Isaiah 42:11

Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice,.... The eastern part of the world, Arabia Deserta, and the inhabitants of the cities which were in it: the villages that Kedar doth

Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

The wilderness; those parts of the world which are now like a wilderness; not literally, for he speaks of their cities in the next clause, but spiritually, desolate and forsaken of God, dry and destitute of the waters of God’ s grace, and barren of all good fruits. Kedar; the Arabians; which were a heathenish and barbarous people, and well known to the Jews, and are synecdochically put for all nations in the same circumstances. Let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains: having mentioned cities and villages, he now adds those who dwell upon rocks and mountains, which are commonly more savage and ignorant than others, and therefore harder to be taught and reformed.

Isaiah 42:11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up [their voice], the villages [that] Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.Ver. 11. Let the wilderness.] Ye that dwell eastward. It was called the wilderness, because but thinly inhabited. The villages that Kedar doth inhabit.] The most fierce and savage people, cicurated and civilised by the gospel preached among them, as it is with us at this day, whose ancestors were most barbarous and brutish, as Cicero testifieth. Let the inhabitants of the rock.] Or, Of Petra, the chief city of Arabia Petraea. De Nat. Deor.

Verse 11. Let the wilderness] The most uncultivated countries, and the most rude and uncivilized people, shall confess and celebrate with thanksgiving the blessing of the knowledge of God graciously imparted to them. By the desert is meant Arabia Deserta; by the rocky country, Arabia Petraea; by the mountains, probably those celebrated ones, Paran, Horeb, Sinai, in the same country; to which also belonged Kedar, a clan of Arabians, dwelling for the most part in tents; but there were others of them who inhabited or frequented cities and villages, as may be collected from this place of the prophet. Pietro della Valle, speaking of the people of Arabia Deserta, says: "There is a sort of Arabs of that country called Maedi, who with their herds, of buffaloes for the most part, sometimes live in the deserts, and sometimes in cities; from whence they have their name, which signifies wandering, going from place to place. They have no professed houses; nor are they properly Bedaui, or Beduui, that is, Deserticoli, who are the most noble among them, and never abide within walls, but always go wandering through the open country with their black tents; nor are they properly called Hhadesi, as they call those who dwell in cities, and lands with fixed houses. These by the latter are esteemed ignoble and base; but both are considered as of low condition." Viaggi, Parte III. lett. ii. The villages that Kedar doth inhabit] The Arabs, according to the Targum. The inhabitants of the rock] They who dwell on fortified places. The Vulgate has habitatores Petraeae, "the inhabitants of Arabia Petraea." Those who make the rock Jesus Christ, the inhabitants of the rock, true believers in him; the singing, rejoicing for the salvation they have received; abuse and disgrace the passage and the pulpit. I have heard a clergyman, a magistrate, a justice of the quorum, spend an hour in showing from these words, 1. That they meant Jesus Christ, and none other. 2. That he might be fully compared to a rock, as the foundation on which his Church was built, and on which all true believers rested for their salvation. 3. A rock, because of his strength and might in destroying his enemies, and supporting his friends. 4. A refreshing rock, like that in the wilderness; and that rock was Christ. 5. A perspective rock, from which true believers could discover their heavenly inheritance: "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I," c. Now all this is true in itself but false in respect to the words on which it was professedly built, for they have no such meaning.

11. the wilderness and the cities thereof] The “cities,” like the “villages” of the next line, are those in the oases, occupied by the settled Arabs; the former are probably the great centres of the caravan trade, like Tadmor and Petra. Kedar (see on ch. Isaiah 21:16) is sometimes referred to as a tribe of nomadic, tent-dwelling Arabs (Psalms 120:5; Son 1:5; Jeremiah 49:28 f.); here they are villagers, what the modern Arabs call ḥ ?aḍ ?arîya (connected with the word ḥ ?âc̨ ?çr, used here) as opposed to the wabarîya or nomads (Delitzsch). In Jeremiah 2:10 Kedar stands, as here, in opposition to the Mediterranean countries. the inhabitants of the rock] (i.e. “the rock-dwellers”). R.V. has “the inhabitants of Sela,” which would probably be Petra. It is difficult to say which translation is preferable. It should be mentioned that the identification of Sela, in any O.T. passage, with Petra is resisted by many scholars (see on ch. Isaiah 16:1). sing] Rather, exult,—a different word at any rate from that used in Isaiah 42:10.

Let the wilderness - (See the note at Isaiah 35:1). The word here denotes the most uncultivated countries, intimating that even the most rude and barbarous people would have occasion to rejoin, and

10-13. Sing… a new song — On this marvellous unseen religious development which is to fill the whole earth, God calls for jubilation.