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Isaiah 35 Bible study: The Holy Way
Isaiah 35 has chapter 34's words: both have a "habitation of jackals" (34:13, 35:7) and both have streams (34:9, 35:6). In the WEB everything from 35:4's "Be strong!" to the end is what the fearful are to be told. And when Jesus said "Ephphatha!" (Mark 7:34) to a deaf man, it was said of him, "He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!" (Mark 7:37).
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“Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution. He will come and save you.”
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“Isaiah 51:11 also says that sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
Is that in Isaiah 35, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Chapter 34's words, in chapter 35
Chapter 34 speaks of a land laid waste: "Its streams will be turned into pitch" (Isaiah 34:9), "No one will pass through it forever and ever" (Isaiah 34:10), and "it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches" (Isaiah 34:13). Then chapter 35 opens, "The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose" (35:1) (tap rose). Here is what almost everyone misses: chapter 35 has chapter 34's words. In Hebrew streams is the same word in both chapters, nachal: "for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert" (35:6). Pass is the same verb, avar: "The unclean shall not pass over it" (35:8). A habitation of jackals is neveh tannim in both, and the Hebrew Bible has those two words together only in 34:13 and in "Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay" (35:7) (tap habitation). And forever in "Its smoke will go up forever" (Isaiah 34:10) is olam, the word of "everlasting joy will be on their heads" (35:10).
Where it leads to Jesus
Be opened!
Isaiah 35:5leads toMark 7:34-37
Isaiah 35 says, "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped" (Isaiah 35:5), and "the tongue of the mute will sing" (Isaiah 35:6). In Mark, "They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech" (Mark 7:32). Jesus "put his fingers into his ears; and he spat and touched his tongue" (Mark 7:33). "Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”" (Mark 7:34). "Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly" (Mark 7:35). Then "They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”" (Mark 7:37). Neither Jesus nor Mark names Isaiah, so setting the two side by side is a reading. It rests on what both speak of, deaf ears opened and a tongue set free, not on a shared word. Some hear in Jesus's word, and in what was said of him after it, the opening of ears and the freeing of tongues that Isaiah 35:5-6 speaks of. Others read Isaiah 35:5-6 in its own chapter, with the LORD's ransomed ones coming with singing to Zion (Isaiah 35:10), and read Mark 7 as the healing of one man, in which no prophet is named. These notes pick neither.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Isaiah 35
That was a taste
The rest of Isaiah 35 is waiting in Favor
- What the fearful are told
- The Holy Way
- What Jesus told John
- A way in the wilderness
- 11 questions as you read
- 13 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 35 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
מַסְלוּלmaslulsay mas-LOOL
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "highway". Strong's: "a thoroughfare (as turnpiked)". "A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called “The Holy Way”" (35:8). The Hebrew Bible has maslul only here. Every other highway in the WEB's Isaiah is mesillah, which Strong's derives from the same root: "There will be a highway for the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria" (Isaiah 11:16), and "Make a level highway in the desert for our God" (Isaiah 40:3).
For your group
Isaiah 35 Bible study questions
- 1"Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid!" (35:4). When has someone said words like these to you at the right time, and what made them land?
- 2"Strengthen the weak hands, and make the feeble knees firm" (35:3). What is one way your group could strengthen someone this week?
- 3The chapter ends, "sorrow and sighing will flee away" (35:10). What difference does it make to carry that promise into a week that still has sorrow in it?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Isaiah 35 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Isaiah 35 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 35 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home