Albert Barnes Commentary


Albert Barnes Commentary
"For as the earth bringeth forth its bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Jehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." — Isaiah 61:11 (ASV)
For as the earth bringeth forth - This figure is used several times by the prophet (see the notes at Isaiah 45:8; Isaiah 55:10–11). The idea is an exceedingly beautiful one: that on the coming of the Messiah, truth and righteousness would spring up and abound like grass and fruits in the vegetable world when the earth is watered with rain.
Her bud - The word bud we now usually apply to the small bunch or protuberance on the branches of a plant, containing the rudiments of the future leaf or flower. The Hebrew word, however, (צמח tsemach), rather means the germ, the shoot, or the young and tender plant as it comes up from the earth—that which first appears from the seed.
So the Lord God will cause righteousness to spring forth - (See the notes at Isaiah 42:19; Isaiah 43:9; Isaiah 44:4; Isaiah 45:8).
Before all the nations - The sense is that righteousness would abound over all the earth, and that all the world would eventually join in celebrating the praises of God.