Bible Strands
Isaiah 49:11
I will turn all My mountains into roads, and My highways will be raised up.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks to the exiled Israelites and the Servant following assurances of protection from hunger, thirst, and scorching heat. This declaration occurs during a promise of restored guidance and physical provision for the returning people.
The words — The Hebrew verb שַׂמְתִּי (sam.Ti) means "I will make," applied to הָרַי (ha.Ra/i) "my mountains" and לַדָּרֶךְ (la.Da.rekh) "into a road." The verb יְרֻמוּ (ye.ru.Mu) literally states "they will be lifted up" regarding the highways.
The thread — The motif of a prepared, elevated highway for the gathered remnant appears in Isaiah 11:16, Isaiah 35:8, and Isaiah 62:10. These passages consistently link cleared paths with divine direction for people returning to their land.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that God actively removes physical barriers to accomplish His gathering promise. It demands acceptance that divine intervention, not human effort, clears the way for obedience and return.
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
And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 11:16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who remain from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.
- Isaiah 35:8 And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- Isaiah 62:10 Go out, go out through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones; raise a banner for the nations!
- Luke 3:4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.
- Psalms 107:7 He led them on a straight path to reach a city where they could live.
- Isaiah 40:3 A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
- Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
- Isaiah 57:14 And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”
- John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- Psalms 107:4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell.