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"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! . . . . . for thou hast
said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of
God . . . . . I will be like the Most High" (Isa. 14: 12-14).
Here we have Gen. 1: 2 on a smaller scale, for in Israel has been enacted in miniature
the drama of the ages.
The "solitary place" is actually a place that is "dry" and so "barren" (as in Joel 2: 20).
Tsiyyah is translated "dry land" in Isa. 41: 18, and "dry ground" in Isa. 53: 2. This
wilderness and dry place shall we read, "be glad for them". We find it exceedingly
difficult to agree with the commentaries that see in the words "for them" a reference to
the noisome creatures of Isa. 34: 14-16. These are to "possess it for ever" and "from
generation to generation shall they dwell therein" (Isa. 34: 17)--which makes it
impossible for the same district to "blossom as the rose". The land of Idumea is to be so
visited that its "streams shall be turned into pitch, and the dust into brimstone . . . . . it
shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever" (Isa. 34: 9, 10)--which
makes it all the more difficult to reconcile with the description of Isa. 35: 1, 2, 6 and 7.
The R.V. omits the words "for them" entirely, while the LXX reads: "Be glad, thou
thirsty desert: let the wilderness exult, and flower as the lily." Dr. Young's literal
version reads: "They joy from the wilderness and dry place", while Govett renders it:
"Thou thirsty wilderness rejoice! Thou desert be glad, and blossom as the lily!"
It will be obvious to the student that any attempt to read a special meaning into the
language of the A.V. is uncalled for. Moreover, in addition to this negative argument,
there is a positive one of much greater force. From the days of Moses, the words "to
rejoice over" in connection with Israel have conveyed the hope of prophecy:
"As the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good" (Deut. 28: 63).
"The Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers"
(Deut. 30: 9).
We also find the phrase in Isa. 62: 5 and 65: 19; and in Zeph. 3: 17.
Isa. 35: 1 undoubtedly refers to the rejoicing of the land of Israel on account of the
deliverance and restoration that had then come to pass.
The change from barrenness to blessing is expressed by the frequently used figure of
"blossoming". In Job 14: 9 we read, with regard to a tree whose root had grown old:
"Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant." This
passage occurs in a context of resurrection, and its application to Isa. 35: is a pointed
one. In chapter 27: 6 Isaiah had already prophesied concerning Israel: "He shall
cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face
of the world with fruit."
There are so many diverse opinions as to the precise flower indicated by the "rose"
that it hardly seems worth while discussing it in any detail. The lily, the meadow saffron,
and the narcissus have all been suggested as possibilities. The word occurs only once
elsewhere, in the Song of Solomon, where the Shulamite, comparing herself with the