Isaiah 44:4

4 Your children will grow like a tree in the grass, like poplar trees growing beside streams of water.

Isaiah 44:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 44:4

And they shall spring up as among the grass
That is, such on whom the Spirit of the Lord shall be poured with his gifts and grace, and with the blessings of it: by the "grass" may be meant common believers, comparable to green grass, for their numbers, being many; for their weakness in themselves; for their flourishing condition; like grass for its greenness, and verdure, and its springing up by clear shining after rain; see ( Psalms 72:6 Psalms 72:16 ) and by those that "spring up among them" are intended the apostles and ministers of the word, who exceed common Christians in their gifts, and grace, and usefulness; grow up higher and taller than they, like palm trees and cedars in Lebanon; and as such exceed private saints as tall trees exceed the grass they grow among: as willows by the water courses;
a sort of trees well known, and which delight in watery places, and grow best on banks of rivers, and shoot up apace in a very short time, and spread their branches; so the apostles, after the effusion of the Spirit on them, grew quickly in gifts, and grace, and evangelic knowledge; and their usefulness spread far and near. The Targum is,

``the righteous shall grow tender and delicate as the flowers of the grass, as a tree that sends forth its roots by flows of water.''

Isaiah 44:4 In-Context

2 This is what the Lord says, who made you, who formed you in your mother's body, who will help you: "People of Jacob, my servants, don't be afraid. Israel, I chose you.
3 I will pour out water for the thirsty land and make streams flow on dry land. and my blessing on your descendants.
4 Your children will grow like a tree in the grass, like poplar trees growing beside streams of water.
5 One person will say, 'I belong to the Lord,' and another will use the name Jacob. Another will sign his name 'I am the Lord's,' and another will use the name Israel."
6 The Lord, the king of Israel, is the Lord All-Powerful, who saves Israel. This is what he says: "I am the beginning and the end. I am the only God.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.