Isaiah 49:20

"“For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now that land will be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away."

Key Reflection

For the people of Israel, this verse speaks to a future restoration after exile. Isaiah envisions a time when once-wasteland areas will be repopulated, and those who had oppressed them—symbolizing foreign powers like Babylon—will no longer pose a threat. The imagery evokes the hope that despite past devastation, God’s people will thrive again, reclaiming their land with a much larger population than before.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The children which thou shalt have -The increase of the population shall be so great. After thou hast lost the other -Hebrew, ‘The sons of thy widowhood.’ That is, after thou hast lost those that have been killed in the wars, and those that have died in captivity in a distant land, there shall be again a great increase as if they were given to a widowed mother. And perhaps the general truth is taught here, that the persecution of the people of God will be attended ultimately with a vast increase; and that all the attempts to obliterate the church will only tend finally to enlarge and strengthen it. Shall say again in thy ears -Or, shall say to thee.

More from Isaiah 49

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