Isaiah 37:31

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

²¹Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²²this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: 'The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you. ²³Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! ²⁴Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: "With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypress trees. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests. ²⁵I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt." ²⁶Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble. ²⁷Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are plants of the field, tender green shoots, grass on the roofs, scorched before it is grown. ²⁸But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me. ²⁹Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.' ³⁰And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah: Heb. escaping of the house of Judah that remaineth, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 6:13, Isaiah 10:20-22, Jeremiah 44:28

take: Isaiah 27:6, Isaiah 65:9, 2 Kings 19:30, 2 Kings 19:31, Psalms 80:9, Jeremiah 30:19, Romans 9:27, Romans 11:5, Galatians 3:29

Reciprocal: Proverbs 12:12 - the root Isaiah 4:2 - them that are escaped Isaiah 28:5 - residue Isaiah 41:19 - plant Jeremiah 31:7 - remnant Ezekiel 7:16 - they Micah 5:5 - when the

Cross-References

Genesis 37:3
Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.

Genesis 37:23
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe-the robe of many colors he was wearing-

Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah,.... The few that escaped out of the cities of Judah, upon Sennacherib's invasion of the land, and besieging and taking the fenced cities thereof, who fled to Jerusalem for safety; these were a type of the remnant, according to the election of grace, the few that are chosen of God, the special people redeemed by Christ, the little flock of his, the small number that enter in at the strait gate, and are saved; and who escape, not the fall of Adam, nor the imputation of his sin, nor the corruption of nature, nor the pollutions of the world in a state of nature; but who escape the vengeance of divine justice, the curse of a righteous law, wrath to come, and the damnation of hell; which is owing to the love of God, the covenant of his grace, the suretyship engagements of Christ, and his performance of them; these are the household of faith, God's confessing and professing people, who are Jews inwardly, of whom there are but a few; of these it is said, they

shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. The Targum is,

"as a tree which sends forth its roots below, and lifts up its branches above.''

The sense is, that those people that fled from their own habitations to Jerusalem should return thither again upon the breaking up of the siege, and be firmly settled, and live peaceably and prosperously, abounding with all good things, which may be applied, mystically, to true believers taking root again in the love of God, which is a hidden root, and is the source of salvation, and all the blessings of it, and is in itself immovable; and though the saints are secured in it, and by it, and nothing can root them out of it, yet they are sometimes shaken with doubts and fears about their interest in it; when there is again a fresh taking root in it, and that is, when they have a strong and lively persuasion of it, which produces fruitfulness in the exercise of faith, hope, and love, and in Gospel obedience; and also to their taking root in Christ, who is as a root unto them, hidden, and out of sight to the world, mean and abject, yet the source of all happiness to the saints, who have a being in him, are born by him, and receive sap and nourishment from him; and though their faith of interest in him may be sometimes shaken, yet there is a fresh taking root by new acts of faith upon him, which produce fruitfulness; the fruits brought forth by such are good works, which spring from the seed of grace, are owing to divine goodness, to the dews of grace, are pleasant and acceptable to God through Christ, and profitable unto men; these are called the fruits of the Spirit, and of righteousness, and are meet for repentance, and are brought forth openly and publicly, which may be signified by being bore upwards.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the remnant that is escaped - (See the margin.) Those that are left of the Jews. The ten tribes had been carried away; and it is not improbable that the inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah had been reduced by want, and by the siege of Lachish, Libnah, etc. It is not to be supposed that Sennacherib could have invaded the land, and spread desolation for so long a time, without diminishing the number of the people. The promise in the passage is, that those who were left should flourish and increase. The land should be at rest; and under the administration of their wise and pious king their number would be augmented, and their happiness promoted.

Shall again take root downward - Like a tree that had been prevented by any cause from growing or bearing fruit. A tree, to bear well, must be in a soil where it can strike its roots deep. The sense is, that all obstructions to their growth and prosperity would be removed.