Then
the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
Isaiah 35:5
Isaiah 35 [1.] The wilderness and the dry land will be glad.
The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
It will blossom abundantly,
and rejoice even with joy and singing.
Lebanon’s glory will be given to it,
the excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see Yahweh’s glory,
the excellence of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong.
Don’t be afraid.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution.
He will come and save you.
Isaiah 35 [5.] Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
Then the lame man will leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute will sing;
for waters will break out in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water.
Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay.
A highway will be there, a road,
and it will be called The Holy Way.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
but it will be for those who walk in the Way.
Wicked fools will not go there.
No lion will be there,
nor will any ravenous animal go up on it.
They will not be found there;
but the redeemed will walk there.
Isaiah 35 [10.] Then Yahweh’s ransomed ones will return,
and come with singing to Zion;
and everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
Meaning:
Isaiah 34 describes God’s judgment on the nations, with Edom turned into a desolate wasteland. Chapter 35 turns to the opposite picture: the desert blossoms, and God’s people are restored and return to Zion with joy. The verse before tells the fearful, “Be strong. Don’t be afraid. Behold, your God will come” and “He will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4). This verse describes what will happen when God comes to save.
- “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened”
“Then” points to the time of God’s coming. Blindness was common in the ancient world and usually incurable. The blind were often reduced to begging. Isaiah promises that when God comes, this suffering will be undone. Elsewhere Isaiah uses blindness as a picture of Israel’s spiritual condition: the people would see but not perceive (Isaiah 6:9-10). The promise therefore includes both physical healing and the opening of hearts to understand God.
- “and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped”
Deafness cut people off from conversation, and above all from hearing God’s word read and taught. The promise of unstopped ears means restored fellowship with God and with others. The next verse continues the list: the lame will leap and “the tongue of the mute will sing” (Isaiah 35:6).
- Fulfilled in Jesus
When John the Baptist asked whether Jesus was the one who was to come, Jesus answered with the words of this passage: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear” (Matthew 11:4-5). The footnote on the PIB Matthew page points back to Isaiah 35:5. Jesus’ healings were signs that God had come to save, as Isaiah 35:4 promised. He opened the eyes of two blind men who called him son of David (Matthew 9:27-31), and the crowds said of him, “He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!” (Mark 7:37). In the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus read that he was sent to proclaim “recovering of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18).
- Still to come in full
Jesus’ miracles were a foretaste. Not every blind or deaf person was healed in his lifetime. The full fulfilment will come when God makes all things new, when “Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more” (Revelation 21:4).
The Significance of Isaiah 35:5
- God comes to save
This verse reminds us that God does not leave his people in their weakness. He comes in person to heal and restore. In Jesus he has come.
- Spiritual sight and hearing
We all need God to open our eyes and ears to his truth. Reading Scripture with prayer, asking God to help us understand, is a way of receiving this promise.
Cross-References:
Matthew 11:5: "the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear," Jesus points to this promise.
Isaiah 35:6: "Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing;" The promise continues.
Luke 4:18: "recovering of sight to the blind," Jesus’ mission statement.
Conclusion: Isaiah promised that when God comes to save his people, the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Jesus pointed to this promise when he answered John the Baptist, and his healings showed that God had come. The promise reaches its full completion in the new creation, and it invites us now to ask God to open our eyes and ears to him.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible