
Text -- Isaiah 58:12 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Thy posterity.

Wesley: Isa 58:12 - -- Cities which have lain long waste; that shall continue for many generations to come.
Cities which have lain long waste; that shall continue for many generations to come.

Wesley: Isa 58:12 - -- Breach is put for breaches, which was made by God's judgment breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be demolished.
Breach is put for breaches, which was made by God's judgment breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be demolished.

Wesley: Isa 58:12 - -- Those paths that led from city to city, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds.
Those paths that led from city to city, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds.

Wesley: Isa 58:12 - -- These accommodations being recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to be re - inhabited.
These accommodations being recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to be re - inhabited.
Thy people, the Israelites.

JFB: Isa 58:12 - -- That is, the buildings which had lain in ruins, even to their foundations, for many ages; called in the parallel passage (Isa 61:4), "the former desol...
That is, the buildings which had lain in ruins, even to their foundations, for many ages; called in the parallel passage (Isa 61:4), "the former desolations"; and in the preceding clause here, "the old waste places." The literal and spiritual restoration of Israel is meant, which shall produce like blessed results on the Gentile world (Amo 9:11-12; Act 15:16-17).

Appropriately: the name truly designating what thou shalt do.


JFB: Isa 58:12 - -- Not that the paths were to be dwelt in, but the paths leading to their dwellings were to be restored; "paths, so as to dwell in the land" [MAURER].
Not that the paths were to be dwelt in, but the paths leading to their dwellings were to be restored; "paths, so as to dwell in the land" [MAURER].
Clarke -> Isa 58:12
Clarke: Isa 58:12 - -- The restorer of paths to dwell in "The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants"- To this purpose it is rendered by the Syriac, Symmachus, ...
The restorer of paths to dwell in "The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants"- To this purpose it is rendered by the Syriac, Symmachus, and Theodotion.
Calvin -> Isa 58:12
Calvin: Isa 58:12 - -- 12.And from thee shall be those who shall restore the deserts of the age By “deserts” Isaiah means frightful desolation, which befell the Jews, w...
12.And from thee shall be those who shall restore the deserts of the age By “deserts” Isaiah means frightful desolation, which befell the Jews, when they were carried into captivity; for the country was reduced to a wilderness, the city was sacked, the temple was razed, and the people were brought into bondage and scattered. He calls them “deserts of the age,” (or of perpetuity,) because the temple could not be immediately repaired, and there was no hope of rebuilding it or of delivering the people. If any city has been ruined or destroyed, while its inhabitants remain, it may be speedily restored; but if none of the inhabitants survive, and if they have been carried away into a distant country, and are very far off, there can be no hope of rebuilding that city; and it will be reckoned monstrous if, after it has lain for a long time in ruins, some person shall say that the people who appear to have perished shall restore and rebuild it.
Since therefore the promise appeared to be incredible, the Prophet intended to meet the doubt; for they might have objected, “If God wishes to restore us, why does he suffer us to languish so long?” He replies that no continuance of delay prevents God from raising again to a lofty situation those who had been sunk low for a long period. Nor must this be limited to the rebuilding of the temple, which was begun by Zerubbabel, (Eze 3:8) and continued by Nehemiah; but it includes the restoration of the Church, which followed after the lapse of several centuries.
The phrase “From thee,” means that from that people, though seemingly half dead, there shall arise those who shall repair the melancholy ruins, and shall be architects or workmen to rebuild Jerusalem. The verb
Thou wilt raise up the foundations of generation and generation Some think that this clause conveys what the Prophet had formerly said, and that by “the foundations of generation and generation” are meant those which lay long in a ruinous state; because out of them must the building be immediately raised and set up; for various hinderances had arisen, by which that work was interrupted. But we may view it as referring to the time to come: “Thou wilt raise up buildings, which shall last for a very long period;” for he seems to promise that the condition of the Church shall be of long duration; as if he had said, “Other buildings do not last long, but this shall last for many ages.” Yet if any one prefer to view it as referring to the past, I am not much disposed to dispute with him.
And thou shalt be called Here the Prophet includes both statements; namely, that the people would resemble a ruined building, and next, that they would be perfectly restored. He ascribes this to the Jews, that they shall be repairers and directors of the ways; that is, that the Lord will make use of their labors; for we ought to ascribe everything to the power of God, who is pleased to bestow upon us so high an honor as to permit our hands to be applied to his work. We have here a remarkable promise about gathering and raising up the ruins of the Church; and since the Lord is pleased to make use of our labor, let us not hesitate to be entirely devoted to it; and although the world oppose and mock at us, and account us fools, let us take courage and conquer every difficulty. Our hearts ought to cherish assured confidence, when we know that it is the work of the Lord, and that he has commanded us to execute it.
TSK -> Isa 58:12
TSK: Isa 58:12 - -- build : Isa 61:4; Neh 2:5, Neh 2:17, Neh 4:1-6; Jer 31:38; Eze 36:4, Eze 36:8-11, Eze 36:33; Amo 9:14
waste : Isa 51:3, Isa 52:9
The repairer : Neh 4:...

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Isa 58:12
Barnes: Isa 58:12 - -- And they that shall be of thee - They that spring from thee; or thy people. Shall build the old waste places - Shall repair the old ruins...
And they that shall be of thee - They that spring from thee; or thy people.
Shall build the old waste places - Shall repair the old ruins, and restore the desolate cities and fields to their former beauty. This language is taken from the condition of Judea during the long captivity at Babylon. The land would have been desolated by the Chaldeans, and lain waste for a period of seventy years. Of course all the remains of their former prosperity would have gone to decay, and the whole country would be filled with ruins. But all this, says the prophet, would be restored if they were obedient to God. and would keep his law. Their descendants would be so numerous that the land would be entirely occupied and cultivated again, and cities and towns would rise with their former beauty and magnificence.
Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations - That is, the foundations which had endured for generations. The word ‘ foundations’ here (
Sin has spread its desolations far and wide. Scarce the foundations of righteousness remain in the earth. Where they do remain, they are often covered over with ruined fragments, and are surrounded by frightful wastes. The world is full of the ruins which sin has caused; and there could be no more striking illustration of the effects of sin on all that is good, than the ruins of Judea during the seventy years of exile, or than those of Palmyra, of Baalbec, of Tyre, of Ephesus, and of Persepolis, at present. It is for the church of God to rebuild these wastes, and to cause the beauties of cultivated fields, and the glories of cities rebuilt, to revisit the desolate earth; in other words, to extend the blessings of that religion which will yet clothe the earth with moral loveliness, as though sin had not spread its gloomy and revolting monuments over the world.
And thou shalt be called - The name which shall appropriately designate what you will do.
The repairer of the breach - Lowth, ‘ The repairer of the broken mound.’ The phrase properly means, ‘ the fortifier of the breach;’ i. e:, the one who shall build up the breach that is made in a wall of a city, either by the lapse of time, or by a siege.
The restorer of paths to dwell in - Lowth and Noves render this, ‘ The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘ And thou shalt cause thy paths to rest in the midst of thee;’ and Jerome. Avertens semitas in quietem - ‘ Turning the paths into rest,’ which the Jewish exposition explains to mean, ‘ Thou shalt build walls so high that no enemy can enter them.’ So Grotius renders it, ‘ Turning thy paths to rest;’ that is, thou shalt leave no way of access to robbers. The Chaldee renders it, ‘ Converting the wicked to the law.’ The common English version has probably expressed correctly the sense. The idea is, that they would repair the public highways which had long lain desolate, by which access was had to their dwelling-places. It does not mean, however, that the paths or ways were to be places in which to dwell, but that the ways which led to their dwelling-places were to be restored, or repaired. These roads, of course, in the long desolations would be ruined. Thorns, and brambles, and trees would have grown upon them; and having been long neglected, they would be impassable. But the advantages of a free contact from one dwelling and one city to another, and throughout the land, would be again enjoyed. Spiritually applied, it means the same as the previous expression, that the church of God would remove the ruins which sin has caused, and diffuse comfort and happiness around the world. The obstructed and overrun paths to a quiet and peaceable dwelling on earth would be cleared away, and the blessings of’ the true religion would be like giving free and easy access from one tranquil and prosperous dwelling-place to another.
Poole -> Isa 58:12
Poole: Isa 58:12 - -- They that shall be of thee i.e. either,
1. A remnant of thee among the captivity, that shall be as persons raised from the dead; or,
2. Thy posteri...
They that shall be of thee i.e. either,
1. A remnant of thee among the captivity, that shall be as persons raised from the dead; or,
2. Thy posterity, expressed thus, because they sprang or proceeded from them.
The old waste places Heb. wastes of eternity , i.e. which have lain long waste; for holam doth not always signify what is bounded by no time, but what respects a long time, looking either forward, as Gen 13:15 Exo 21:6 , or backward, as here, viz. the space of seventy years, and so may truly be rendered the wastes of an age . By waste places he means the city and temple, with cities and places adjacent, turned as it were all into a waste, or wilderness, void and untilled, and which was done not only by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, but by Sennacherib also, and the other kings of Assyria. They had lain so long desolate, that the foxes inhabited them instead of men, Lam 5:18 . And it was turned so much into a desert, that they were forced to fight with the beasts that possessed it to get their food, Lam 5:9 .
The foundations of many generations either the foundations that were laid many generations ago, as those of Jerusalem, which was not only built, but was the head of a kingdom, in the days of Melchizedek, who was king thereof in the days of Abraham, as appears, Gen 14:18 ; if that Salem were Jerusalem, as is generally agreed, and Josephus writes, lib. 1. Antiquit. cap. 10; who was born about the three hundredth year after the flood: the superstructures were now destroyed, viz. of Jerusalem, and divers other cities. Or, that shall continue for many generations yet to come.
Thou shalt be called thou shalt be honoured with this title, as we use to say the father of our country , i.e. deservedly so called, because thou art so; the like phrase Isa 48:8 .
The repairer of the breach: breach is put here collectively for breaches, which were made by God’ s judgment breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be demolished, and their state broken, Isa 5:5 .
The restorer of paths such a one was Moses, Psa 106:23 . And this tends to the same sense with the former expression, because men were wont to make paths over those breaches, to go the nearest way. Or it may more particularly point at the recovering of the ancient paths, and bringing them into their wonted course, which were either those chief streets through the gates of the cities, or other lanes out of those streets, which were now forgotten and lost, partly by being covered with rubbish, and partly by those shorter paths that were trod and made over the breaches; such a restorer of paths was Nehemiah, Neh 6:1 . And we read of the several repairers he made use of, Ne 3 . Or those paths that leads from city to city, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass and weeds, for want of travellers, or safety of travelling, (of something a like case we read in the time of the judges, Jud 5:6,7 ) and so lost as in a wilderness, wherein there is no way; and by building up those cities again the several paths leading to them would be restored.
To dwell in these accommodations being all recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to be reinhabited.
Haydock -> Isa 58:12
Haydock: Isa 58:12 - -- Generation. As the Jews did not comply with the condition, the Church falls heir to these promises.
Generation. As the Jews did not comply with the condition, the Church falls heir to these promises.
Gill -> Isa 58:12
Gill: Isa 58:12 - -- And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places,.... As the cities in Israel and Judea, which had been long laid waste by the Assyrian...
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places,.... As the cities in Israel and Judea, which had been long laid waste by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, were rebuilt by those of the Jewish nation, who returned from the captivity of Babylon, to which there is at least an allusion; and as the church of God, the tabernacle of David, which was fallen down, and had lain long in ruins, through corruptions in doctrine and worship, to the times of Christ, when the apostles, who were of the Jews, those wise masterbuilders, were instruments of raising it up again, and repairing its ruins: so, in the latter day, "the waste places of the world" n, as the words may be rendered, shall be built by a set of men, that shall be of the church of God, who shall be instruments in his hand of converting many souls, and so of peopling it with Christians; such places as before were desolate, where before there was no preaching of the word, no administration of ordinances, nor any Gospel churches:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; either such foundations as have been razed up, and lay so for ages past; or raise up such as shall continue for generations to come. It may allude to the raising the foundations of the city and temple of Jerusalem; but rather refers to the founding of churches in Gospel times, which, as it was done in the first times of it by the apostles in the Gentile world, so shall be again in the latter day, which will continue for many ages:
and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, and the restorer of paths to dwell in; that is, the church and her builders, that shall be of her, shall be so called; the Jews and Gentiles will be converted in great numbers, and coalesce in the same Gospel church state, and so the breach between them will be repaired. Christians of various denominations, who now break off and separate one from another, will be of the same sentiment and judgment in doctrine and discipline; they shall see eye to eye, and cement together, and all breaches will be made up, and there will be no schism in the body; and they shall dwell together in unity, and walk in the same paths of faith and duty, of truth and holiness; and such who will be the happy instruments of all this will have much honour, and be called by these names.
The Targum is,
"they shall call thee one that confirms the right way, and converts, the ungodly to the law.''

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes: Isa 58:12 The Hebrew text has “the one who restores paths for dwelling.” The idea of “paths to dwell in” is not a common notion. Some ha...
Geneva Bible -> Isa 58:12
Geneva Bible: Isa 58:12 And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old ( n ) waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be ca...

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Isa 58:1-14
TSK Synopsis: Isa 58:1-14 - --1 The prophet, being sent to reprove hypocrisy, shews the difference between a counterfeit fast and a true.8 He declares what promises are due unto go...
MHCC -> Isa 58:3-12
MHCC: Isa 58:3-12 - --A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it does not express true sorrow for sin, and does not promote the putting away of sin, it is not a fast. These...
Matthew Henry -> Isa 58:8-12
Matthew Henry: Isa 58:8-12 - -- Here are precious promises for those to feast freely and cheerfully upon by faith who keep the fast that God has chosen; let them know that God will...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Isa 58:8-12
Keil-Delitzsch: Isa 58:8-12 - --
The prophet now proceeds to point out the reward of divine grace, which would follow such a fast as this, consisting of self-renouncing, self-sacrif...
Constable: Isa 56:1--66:24 - --V. Israel's future transformation chs. 56--66
The last major section of Isaiah deals with the necessity of livin...

Constable: Isa 56:1--59:21 - --A. Recognition of human inability chs. 56-59
It is important that God's people demonstrate righteousness...

Constable: Isa 58:1--59:21 - --2. The relationship of righteousness and ritual chs. 58-59
The structure of this section is simi...

Constable: Isa 58:1-14 - --What God wants ch. 58
Again Isaiah presented the folly of simply going through a system ...
