Discovery BoxIsaiah 35:5-6 
Context35:5 Then blind eyes will open,
deaf ears will hear.
35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will flow 1 in the desert,
streams in the wilderness. 2
Isaiah 26:19
Context26:19 3 Your dead will come back to life;
your corpses will rise up.
Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! 4
For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, 5
and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. 6
Isaiah 29:18-19
Context29:18 At that time 7 the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,
and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. 8
29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;
the poor among humankind will take delight 9 in the Holy One of Israel. 10
Isaiah 61:1
Context61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen 11 me. 12
He has commissioned 13 me to encourage 14 the poor,
to help 15 the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners,
1 tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.”
2 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”
3 sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.
4 tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
5 tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.
6 sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).
7 tn Or “In that day” (KJV).
8 tn Heb “and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”
sn Perhaps this depicts the spiritual transformation of the once spiritually insensitive nation (see vv. 10-12, cf. also 6:9-10).
9 tn Or “will rejoice” (NIV, NCV, NLT).
10 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
11 tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.
12 sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).
13 tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”
14 tn Or “proclaim good news to.”
15 tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”
