Bible Strands
Isaiah 42:11
Let the desert and its cities raise their voices; let the villages of Kedar cry aloud. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses the desert, its cities, the villages of Kedar, and the inhabitants of Sela, immediately following a command to sing to the Lord from the ends of the earth. This call directly precedes an instruction for them to give glory to the Lord in the islands.
The words — The text commands the wilderness to יִשְׂא֤וּ (yis.'U), "let them lift up" their voices, and the villages to יָרֹ֙נּוּ֙ (ya.Ro.nu), "let them shout for joy." The literal sense establishes a direct order for vocal proclamation rather than a metaphorical description.
The thread — The geographic markers of the wilderness and Kedar reappear in Isaiah 32:16 regarding justice inhabiting the desert and Isaiah 60:7 where the flocks of Kedar are gathered. The expansion to the ends of the earth mirrors the scope described in Psalm 72:8.
Why it lands — The text demands a response of vocal praise from remote and traditionally desolate regions, establishing worship as a universal mandate. It requires the reader to recognize that the call to proclaim the Lord's name extends beyond established centers to the margins.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 32:16 Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.
- Isaiah 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house.
- Psalms 72:8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
- Isaiah 41:18 I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.
- Genesis 25:23 and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
- Psalms 120:5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
- Isaiah 16:1 Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.
- Isaiah 21:16 For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.
- Isaiah 35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
- Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”