Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 41:19
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, [and] the pine, and the box tree together:
19. The desert itself shall be transformed into a grove of stately and beautiful trees. I will plant ] Better: I will place. The shittah tree is the acacia. The myrtle is only mentioned in exilic and post-exilic writings; ch. Isa 55:13; Zec 1:8; Zec 1:10 f.; Neh 8:15.
the oil tree ] Not the olive, but the oleaster or wild olive.
the fir tree ] Rather: the cypress (R.V. marg.). With regard to the two last of the seven trees there is no sure tradition. The first ( tidhar) is identified by different authorities with the fir, the elm and the plane. The other ( t’assh r) is according to some the box-tree, according to others a species of cedar, probably the sherbn-tree of the Arabs ( cypressus oxycedrus). The names occur again only in ch. Isa 60:13; the last, however, is also disguised in a corrupt reading in Eze 27:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will plant in the wilderness – The image in this verse is one that is frequent in Isaiah. It is designed to show that God would furnish for his people abundant consolations, and that he would furnish unanticipated sources of comfort, and would remove from them their anticipated trials and calamities. The image refers to the return of the exiles to their own land. That journey lay through Arabia Deserta – a vast desert – where they would naturally expect to meet with nothing but barren hills, naked rocks, parched plains, and burning sands. God says that he would bless them in the same manner as if in that desolate wilderness he should plant the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the fir-tree, and should make the whole distance a grove, where fountains would bubble along their way, and streams burst forth from the hills (compare the notes at Isa 32:15).
The cedar – The large and beautiful cedar, with lofty height, and extended branches such as grew on Lebanon (compare Isa 9:10, note; Isa 37:24, note).
The shittah-tree – This is the Hebrew name without change, shttah. The Vulgate is spinam. The Septuagint renders it, Puchon – The box. Lowth renders it, The acacia. Probably the acacia, or the spina AEgyptiaca – the Egyptian thorn of the ancients – is intended by it. It is a large tree, growing abundantly in Egypt and Arabia, and is the tree from which the gum-arabic is obtained. It is covered with large black thorns, and the wood is hard, and, when old, resembles ebony.
And the myrtle – The myrtle is a tree which rises with a shrubby upright stem, eight or ten feet high. Its branches form a dense, full head, closely garnished with oval lanceolate leaves. It has numerous small pale flowers from the axillas, singly on each footstalk (Encyc.) There are several species of the myrtle, and they are especially distinguished for their forming a dense and close top, and thus constituting a valuable tree for shade. It is a tree that grows with great rapidity.
And the oil-tree – Hebrew, Tree of oil that is, producing oil. Doubtless the olive is intended here, from whose fruit oil was obtained in abundance. This was a common tree in Palestine, and was one of the most valued that grew.
The fir-tree – The word used here ( berosh) is commonly rendered, in our version, fir-tree (Isa 60:13; Isa 55:13; Zec 11:2; Hos 14:8-9; 2Sa 6:5; 1Ki 5:8, 1Ki 5:10; 1Ki 6:15, 1Ki 6:34; Nah 2:3, and in other places). Our translators understood it evidently as referring to the cedar. It is often joined, however, with the cedar (see the note at Isa 14:8; compare Isa 37:24; Zec 11:1-2), and evidently denotes another tree, probably of the same class. It is probable that the word usually denotes the cypress. There are various kinds of cypress. Some are evergreen, and some are deciduous, as the American white cedar. The wood of these trees is remarkable for its durability. Among the ancients, coffins were made of it, and the tree itself was an emblem of mourning. It is mentioned here because its extended branches and dense foliage would produce a grateful shade.
And the pine – The Septuagint renders this Leuken, And – The white poplar. The Vulgate renders it, The elm. Gesenius supposes that a species of hard oak, holm or ilex, is intended. It is not easy, however, to determine what species of tree is meant.
The box-tree – Gesenius supposes that by this word is denoted some tall tree – a species of cedar growing on mount Lebanon that was distinguished by the smallness of its cones, and the upward direction of its branches. With us the word box denotes a shrub used for bordering flower-beds. But the word here denotes a tree – such as was sufficient to constitute a shade.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 41:19
I will plant in the wilderness
Trees
The cedar grew on Mount Lebanon, and was of great height, and had extended branches, which afforded kindly shade.
The shittah tree is probably, as the R.V. renders it, the acacia. This was a large tree, growing abundantly in Egypt and Arabia, and is the tree from which gum-arabic is obtained. It is covered with black thorns, and the wood is hard, and when old resembles ebony. The myrtle rises eight or ten feet high, its characteristic being a dense, full head. It is thus convenient for shade.
The off tree is probably the olive tree. The fir tree usually denotes the cypress, an evergreen. This is also a tree whose wide-spread foliage would afford shade. The pine tree is perhaps the poplar (according to the Septuagint), or elm (according to the Vulgate), or a kind of hard oak (according to Gesenius). The box tree is probably some tall tree of the cedar kind, also affording shade. The chief common characteristic of these trees is that they afford welcome shade. In Western lands the intensity of the suns heat and rays is not felt; but in the East he is at his fiercest, and a shadow is a most grateful possession. A missionary from the South Seas said: Oh, the shining of the sun! The one thing we wanted to hide from was the sun. Its glare was intolerable! (J. A. Davies, B. D.)
The rejoicing wilderness
What meaneth this figurative picture of a vast oasis–a wen-watered grove of stately, fragrant shady trees? Observe, there are seven kinds of these mentioned; seven–the Hebrew symbol of abundance, diversity, perfection. The words may well be taken, therefore, to denote the plenitude of Divine grace vouchsafed in the hour of deepest perplexity and sorrow. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
Divine grace adapted to human need
The beautiful part of the picture is, that God bestows grace varied in its manifestations; adapted in its wondrous diversity to meet the wants and necessities and trials of all His suffering people. He has sustaining grace for one, restraining grace for another; strengthening grace for one, sanctifying grace for another; comforting grace for one, dying grace for another. But all these trees of God are full of sap, from the lowly: nabk or mountain-thorn, to the cedar of Lebanon which He hath planted. Each tree may be taken as the type or emblem of a cluster of Bible promises. To the weak, there is the cedar in its strength; to the bereaved, there is the olive, with its ashen leaves, and yet with its oil of joy for the mourner; to the fainting and downcast, there is the tall pine and tapering cypress pointing upwards; to the wounded spirit, there is the balsam tree of Gilead and the fragrant myrtle; to the dying, there is the palm tree with its graceful fronds, according to the Eastern tradition, whispering in the ear the name of Jesus! And the further peculiarity of this promise is, that it is in the hour of sorest want and trial and perplexity that that grace is most abundant. It is in the depths of the arid desert, with hillocks of sand on all sides bounding the horizon,–in seasons of loneliest bereavement and uttermost sorrow,–that these palm and acacia and olive and myrtle groves, as if by the hand of an enchanter, rise up to view. It was at the fourth watch of the night (when the darkness was deepest, and the hearts of the disciples were most despairing and desponding) that Jesus cometh unto them walking upon the sea. Mans extremity is often Gods opportunity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The symbolism of trees
In the more figurative sense it intimates that the Lord God would raise up, for the benefit of His Church, men of distinguished eminence and usefulness, such as judges and generals, to afford them protection; rulers and governors, who should prove both ornamental and useful to them; and choice ministers of the Word, from whose doctrine they were to derive defence from evil, spiritual nourishment, and consolation. (R. Macculloch.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar] The two preceding verses express God’s mercy to them in their passage through the dry deserts, in supplying them with abundant water, when distressed with thirst, in allusion to the exodus. This verse expresses the relief afforded to them, fainting with heat in their journey through that hot country, destitute of shelter, by causing shady trees, and those of the tallest and most beautiful kinds, to spring up for their defense. The apocryphal Baruch, speaking of the return from Babylon, expresses God’s protection of his people by the same image: “Even the woods and every sweet-smelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God.” Isa 5:8.
The oil tree] This, Kimchi says, is not to be understood of the olive tree, for the olive is distinguished, Ne 8:15; but it means the pine or fir, from which pitch is extracted.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Trees which are both useful and pleasant to the eye, and giving a good shadow to the traveller, which in those hot and parched countries was very comfortable. Thus much is evident and confessed. But what particular trees these Hebrew words signify seems to me improper to discourse here, because only the learned are capable of judging in this case, and they may consult my Latin Synopsis upon this and other places of Scripture where they are mentioned.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. (Isa 32:15;Isa 55:13).
shittahrather, the”acacia,” or Egyptian thorn, from which the gum Arabic isobtained [LOWTH].
oil treethe olive.
fir treerather, the”cypress”: grateful by its shade.
pineGESENIUStranslates, “the holm.”
box treenot the shrubused for bordering flower beds, but [GESENIUS]a kind of cedar, remarkable for the smallness of its cones, and theupward direction of its branches.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree,…. Where such trees had not used to grow, but in Lebanon, and such like places. The “shittah tree” is thought to be a kind of cedar; it is the same of which is the “shittim wood” mentioned in
Ex 25:5 and is so called by the Targum here:
and the myrtle, and the oil tree; about the former there is no difficulty, and one would think there should be none about the latter, and that the olive tree is meant; but Kimchi thinks that is not certain, and supposes the pine tree is meant; and observes that the olive tree is distinguished from this oil tree in Ne 8:15, as indeed it is; and is by our translators there rendered the pine tree, which they take to be meant by another word in the next clause:
I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together; what we here render the “pine” the Targum interprets it of the “elm”, and so the Vulgate Latin version: now by all these are figuratively meant converted persons in the Gentile world, in whom as great a change was wrought, as if, instead of briers and thorns, came up such trees as these; and who, by the grace of God, were made as goodly and beautiful as some of these trees were; as odorous and of as sweet a scent in their graces and duties as others; and as profitable and fruitful in grace and good works like others of them; and comparable to them, as being some of them evergreen, durable, and incorruptible; because of their perseverance in grace and holiness.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(19) I will plant in the wilderness.A picture as of the Paradise of God (Isa. 51:3), with its groves of stately trees, completes the vision of the future. The two groups of four and three, making up the symbolic seven, may probably have a mystic meaning. The shittah is the acacia, the oil tree the wild olive, as distinguished from the cultivated (Rom. 11:17), the fir tree is probably the cypress, the pine stands for the plane, alwaysas in the opening of Platos Phdrus, and the story of Xerxes in Herod. vii. 31,the glory of Eastern scenery and the box-tree is perhaps the larch, or a variety of cedar. The myrtle does not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament till after the exile (Neh. 8:15; Zec. 1:8; Zec. 1:10-11), but then it appears as if indigenous. It supplies the proper name Hadassah (Esther) in Est. 2:7.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19, 20. I will plant in the wilderness Quite as ample shall be the protection from heat and sunstroke by means of overspreading shade from the trees which God shall plant in the waterless desert: the cedar, such as Lebanon grows; the shittah tree, or, acacia, which abounds in Arabia’s favourite valleys; the oil tree, that is, the wild olive; fir tree, or the cypress; the pine, or, as Gesenius renders it, the durable holm oak; the box, a species of cedar, (Gesenius,) these are to cover the wilderness for the safety and refreshment of God’s people. Here is employed Isaiah’s accustomed imagery. See chapter 35. Here, too, is incidental evidence from the nature of the trees mentioned of Isaiah’s authorship, though the chapters in the earlier prophecies having resemblance to those in these later prophecies, are, by the negative critics, all alike thrown out. The description, however, is of trees familiar to all in Palestine; scarcely so to any Babylonian resident claimed to be necessarily the author. All these rich provisions are to show the difference there is between trusting in the Holy One of Israel (the other keyword of these chapters) and trusting to lifeless idols.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, [and] the pine, and the box tree together:
Ver. 19. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, &c. ] That is, saith Lyra, I will give variety of graces to my people.
And the box tree.
a Per varia ligna varietatem gratiarum insinuat. – Oecol.
b Sphinx, Philos.
plant: Isa 27:6, Isa 32:15, Isa 37:31, Isa 37:32, Isa 51:3, Isa 55:13, Isa 60:21, Isa 61:3, Isa 61:11, Psa 92:13, Psa 92:14, Eze 17:22-24, Eze 47:12
Reciprocal: Exo 25:23 – shittim wood Num 24:6 – which the Job 38:26 – on the wilderness Isa 29:17 – Lebanon Isa 30:25 – upon every high Isa 35:2 – the glory Isa 42:11 – Let the wilderness Isa 45:16 – General Isa 60:13 – The glory Hos 14:8 – I am Zec 1:8 – among
He would also provide the other necessity in the wilderness of life’s experiences beside water, namely: shade. All the trees mentioned (seven in all) were shade trees, but they did not normally grow together. This enhances the picture of God working wonders to provide for His people. Seven may symbolize the complete perfection of God’s work in this connection. [Note: Archer, p. 638.] The emphasis on water and trees also marks Genesis 3, suggesting a return to Edenic conditions.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)