Time after Pentecost · Proper 18 · Year B
Isaiah 35:4-7a
Joy of the Redeemed
September 5, 2027
Overview & Insights
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened… and the ransomed of the Lord shall return with singing.” (Isaiah 35:5, 10)
While chapter 33 looks back and reworks the message of the book so far, it does so in a way that points forward and emphasizes the wondrous reversal and restoration that Yahweh will bring about. Since the second half of the book is more renewal-focused, chapter 33 thus also anticipates this material. Chapters 34–35 then mirror chapter 33. They have one eye to what has preceded, but they more explicitly point to what will come, introducing us to themes to be developed in the second half of the book. We will see that chapters 36–39 are stories that talk about Isaiah and were therefore hardly written by him, while chapters 40–66 presuppose a later context than Isaiah’s day and are presumably the words of later prophets.
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Commentary
Working Preacher: Commentary on Isaiah 35:4-7a Working Preacher
Lutheran lectionary commentary on the great reversal of God's coming.
Enduring Word: Isaiah 35 Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical notes on the whole chapter.
Precept Austin: Isaiah 35 Commentary Precept Austin
Detailed study page gathering many commentators on Isaiah 35.
BibleHub: Commentaries on Isaiah 35:4 BibleHub
Parallel classic commentaries keyed to the promise of salvation.
StudyLight: Isaiah 35 Commentaries StudyLight
Many complete commentaries on Isaiah 35 gathered on one page.
Background & Word Study
Enter the Bible: Isaiah Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's scholarly introduction to Isaiah and its context.
BibleProject: Isaiah 1-39 Overview BibleProject
Animated overview of the first movement of the book of Isaiah.
Sefaria: Isaiah 35 (Hebrew) Sefaria
Hebrew text with English and classical Jewish commentary on the chapter.
BibleHub: Isaiah 35 Interlinear BibleHub
Hebrew-English interlinear for word-level study of the chapter.
Questions preachers ask
What is the joy of Isaiah 35?
The desert blooms and a highway of holiness opens for the redeemed to come to Zion with everlasting joy, and sorrow and sighing flee away.
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