Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 1:30

"For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water." — Isaiah 1:30 (ASV)

For you ... - The mention of the tree in the previous verse gives the prophet occasion for the beautiful image in this. They had desired the oak, and they should be like it. That tree, when the frost came, was divested of its beauty, and its leaves faded and fell; so should their beauty, privileges, and happiness as a people fade away at the anger of God.

A garden that has no water - Such a garden is therefore withered and parched, a place where nothing would flourish and where all would be desolation. This is a most striking image of the approaching desolation of the Jewish nation.

In Eastern countries, this image would be more striking than it is to us. In these hot regions, a constant supply of water is necessary for cultivation and even for the very existence and preservation of a garden.

Should a garden lack water for a few days, everything in it would be burned up with heat and totally destroyed. Therefore, in all gardens in those regions, there must be a constant supply of water, either from a neighboring river or from a fountain or reservoir within the garden itself.

Securing such a fountain became an object of indispensable importance, not only for the coolness and pleasantness of the garden but also for the very existence of its vegetation.

Dr. Russell, in his Natural History of Aleppo, says that ‘all the gardens of Aleppo are on the banks of the river that runs by that city, or on the sides of the rill that supplies their aqueduct,’ and he represents all the rest of the country as perfectly burned up in the summer months, with the gardens only retaining their verdure because of the moistness of their situation.