Psalms 23:2

23:2 He takes me to lush pastures, ¹ 

he leads me to refreshing water. ² 

Isaiah 35:6-8

35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,

the mute tongue will shout for joy;

for water will flow ³  in the desert,

streams in the wilderness. ⁴ 

35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,

the parched ground springs of water.

Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,

grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.

35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –

it will be called the Way of Holiness. ⁵ 

The unclean will not travel on it;

it is reserved for those authorized to use it ⁶  –

fools ⁷  will not stray into it.

Isaiah 41:17-19

41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched from thirst.

I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ⁸ 

I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes

and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.

I will turn the desert into a pool of water

and the arid land into springs.

41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;

I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.

Isaiah 43:16-19

43:16 This is what the Lord says,

the one who made a road through the sea,

a pathway through the surging waters,

43:17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction, ⁹ 

together with a mighty army.

They fell down, ¹⁰  never to rise again;

they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:

43:18 “Don’t remember these earlier events; ¹¹ 

don’t recall these former events.

43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.

Now it begins to happen! ¹²  Do you not recognize ¹³  it?

Yes, I will make a road in the desert

and paths ¹⁴  in the wilderness.

Isaiah 49:9-11

49:9 You will say ¹⁵  to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those who are in dark dungeons, ¹⁶  ‘Emerge.’ ¹⁷ 

They will graze beside the roads;

on all the slopes they will find pasture.

49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;

the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, ¹⁸ 

for one who has compassion on them will guide them;

he will lead them to springs of water.

49:11 I will make all my mountains into a road;

I will construct my roadways.”

Revelation 7:17

7:17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” ¹⁹ 

[23:2]  ¹ tn Heb “he makes me lie down in lush pastures.” The Hiphil verb יַרְבִּיצֵנִי (yarbitseniy) has a causative-modal nuance here (see IBHS 445-46 §27.5 on this use of the Hiphil), meaning “allows me to lie down” (see also Jer 33:12). The point is that the shepherd takes the sheep to lush pastures and lets them eat and rest there. Both imperfect verbal forms in v. 2 are generalizing and highlight the psalmist’s typical experience.

[23:2]  ² tn Both genitives in v. 2 indicate an attribute of the noun they modify: דֶּשֶׁא (deshe’) characterizes the pastures as “lush” (i.e., rich with vegetation), while מְנֻחוֹת (mÿnukhot) probably characterizes the water as refreshing. In this case the plural indicates an abstract quality. Some take מְנֻחוֹת in the sense of “still, calm” (i.e., as describing calm pools in contrast to dangerous torrents) but it is unlikely that such a pastoral scene is in view. Shepherds usually watered their sheep at wells (see Gen 29:2-3; Exod 2:16-19). Another option is to take מְנֻחוֹת as “resting places” and to translate, “water of/at the resting places” (i.e., a genitive of location; see IBHS 147-48 §9.5.2e).

[35:6]  ³ tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.”

[35:6]  ⁴ tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”

[35:8]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.

[35:8]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.

[35:8]  ⁷ tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.

[41:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[43:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “led out chariots and horses.” The words “to destruction” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The verse refers to the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea.

[43:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lay down”; NAB “lie prostrate together”; CEV “lie dead”; NRSV “they lie down.”

[43:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the former things” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “forget all that.”

[43:19]  ¹² tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”

[43:19]  ¹³ tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”

[43:19]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has נתיבות (“paths”).

[49:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.

[49:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”

[49:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).

[49:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”

[7:17]  ¹⁹ sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.