Isaiah 44:4

4 They will sprout among[a] the grass like poplars by the streambeds.

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 the word of the Lord your Maker who shaped you from birth; He will help you: Do not fear; Jacob is My servant; I have chosen Jeshurun.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants and My blessing on your offspring.
4 They will sprout among the grass like poplars by the streambeds.
5 This one will say: I am the Lord's; another will call [himself] by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand: The Lord's, and name [himself] by the name of Israel."
6 This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, says: I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but Me.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. DSS, LXX, a few Hb mss read as among
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