Isaiah 35 Footnotes

35:1-10 A shift of scene occurs here. The desert that Edom had become (34:8-15) was no longer in view; this passage was a poetic image of the Wilderness of Judah coming to life again, with the return of “the redeemed of the LORD” to Zion (v. 10). Jerusalem did not fall during Isaiah’s time, so a “return” did not occur then; therefore, many interpreters consider that, in this passage, Isaiah was looking ahead to the time of the Jews’ return from exile in Babylon more than a century and a half later. Some commentators consider this passage the work of an inspired, but unnamed, disciple of Isaiah (his disciples were mentioned in 8:16) who wrote during the exile, though there is nothing here that specifically points to a later date of composition. Other interpreters view this passage as a picture of the time when God will establish his kingdom (2:2-4), and his people “will see the glory of the LORD” (35:2). The promise that “God himself will be with them” (Rv 21:3) and “they will see his face” (Rv 22:4) is reinforced at the end of the NT; the same writer also affirms that, in Christ, “we observed his glory” (Jn 1:14).