Isaiah 49 · Verse 9

Isaiah 49:9

That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
Isaiah 49:9, King James Version

Isaiah 49:9 in other translations

BSBto say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.
WEBsaying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ “They shall feed along the paths, and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.
ASVsaying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.
YLTTo say to the bound, Go out, To those in darkness, Be uncovered. On the ways they feed, And in all high places is their pasture.
DARBYsaying to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pasture shall be on all bare hills.
BBESaying to those who are in chains, Go free; to those who are in the dark, Come out into the light. They will get food by the way wherever they go, and have grass-lands on all the dry mountain-tops.
WebsterThat thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

What does Isaiah 49:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
9. (Is 42:7; Zec 9:12). prisoners--the Jews bound in legal bondage. them ... in darkness--the Gentiles having no light as to the one true God [Vitringa]. Show yourselves--not only see but be seen (Mt 5:16; Mr 5:19). Come forth from the darkness of your prison into the light of the Sun of righteousness. in the ways, &c.--In a desert there are no "ways," nor "high places," with "pastures"; thus the sense is: "They shall have their pastures, not in deserts, but in cultivated and inhabited places." Laying aside the figure, the churches of Christ at the first shall be gathered, not in obscure and unknown regions, but in the most populous parts of the Roman empire, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, &c. [Vitringa]. Another sense probably is the right one. Israel, on its way back to the Holy Land, shall not have to turn aside to devious paths in search of necessaries, but shall find them in all places wherever their route lies; so Rosenmuller. God will supply them as if He should make the grass grow in the trodden ways and on the barren high places.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 To them that are in darkness "And to those that are in darkness" - Fifteen MSS. (five ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, eleven of De Rossi's, and one ancient of my own, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, and three others, add the conjunction ו vau at the beginning of this member. Another MS. had it so at first, and two others have a rasure at the place: and it is expressed by the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 49:7-12

The Father is the Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of Israel, as sending the Son to be the Redeemer. Man, whom he came to save, put contempt upon him. To this he submitted for our salvation. He is a pledge for all the blessings of the covenant; in him God was reconciling the world to himself. Pardoning mercy is a release from the curse of the law; renewing grace is a release from the dominion of sin: both are from…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 49:7-12 →

Isaiah 49:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֵאמֹ֤רle.Morto sayH559
לַֽאֲסוּרִים֙la.'a.su.Rimto [the] prisonersH631
צֵ֔אוּTze.'ucome outH3318
לַאֲשֶׁ֥רla.'a.Sherto [those] whoH834
בַּחֹ֖שֶׁךְba.Cho.shekh[are] in <the> darknessH2822
הִגָּל֑וּhi.ga.Lureveal yourselvesH1540
עַל\־'al-onH5921
דְּרָכִ֣יםde.ra.KhimroadsH1870
יִרְע֔וּyir.'Uthey will grazeH7462
וּבְכָל\־u.ve.Khol-and [will be] on allH3605
שְׁפָיִ֖יםshe.fa.Yimbare heightsH8205
מַרְעִיתָֽם\׃mar.'i.Tampasture theirH4830

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 49:9

  • 1 Peter 2:9

    But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

  • Isaiah 42:16

    And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

  • Isaiah 42:7

    To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

  • Luke 4:18

    The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

  • Psalms 69:33

    For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

  • Isaiah 61:1

    The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

  • Zechariah 9:11-12

    As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

  • Isaiah 9:2

    The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

  • Psalms 102:20

    To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

  • Ephesians 5:14

    Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

  • Luke 1:79

    To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

  • Psalms 23:1-2

    A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
to the.
42:7; 61:1; Ps 69:33; 102:20; 107:10-16; 146:7; Zec 9:11,12; Lu 4:18
Col 1:13; 1Pe 2:9
to them.
9:2; 42:16; 60:1,2; Lu 1:79; Joh 8:12; Ac 26:18; 2Co 4:4-6
Eph 5:8,14; 1Th 5:5,6
They shall feed.
5:17; 55:1,2; 65:13; Ps 22:26; 23:1,2; Eze 34:13-15,23,29; Joe 3:18
Joh 6:53-58; 10:9
high.
De 32:13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 49:8

    Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

  • Isaiah 49:9

    That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

  • Isaiah 49:10

    They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

Read all of Isaiah 49

Isaiah 49:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Para que digas á los presos: Salid; y á los que están en tinieblas: Manifestaos. En los caminos serán apacentados, y en todas las cumbres serán sus pastos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		disant aux prisonniers: Sortez! à ceux qui sont dans les ténèbres: Paraissez! Ils paîtront sur les chemins, et sur toutes les hauteurs seront leurs pâturages.
German
Elberfelder 1871		um den Gefangenen zu sagen: Gehet hinaus! zu denen, die in Finsternis sind: Kommet ans Licht! Sie werden an den Wegen weiden, und auf allen kahlen Höhen wird ihre Weide sein;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		ut diceres his qui vincti sunt: Exite, et his qui in tenebris: Revelamini. Super vias pascentur, et in omnibus planis pascua eorum.