Limitless Word
The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
Isaiah 37:31 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
  • BSB And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
  • NKJV And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah Shall again take root downward, And bear fruit upward.
  • NASB The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
  • NLT And you who are left in Judah, who have escaped the ravages of the siege, will put roots down in your own soil and grow up and flourish.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The surviving remnant of Judah will take root downward and bear fruit upward. God promises renewed life and flourishing after the threat.

Overview

Using the image of a plant sinking roots and bearing fruit, God pictures the preserved remnant thriving again. Survival is not mere escape but the beginning of new growth under God's blessing. The remnant motif points to the people God preserves and multiplies, ultimately fulfilled in the fruitful community of Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Isa 27:6In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with fruit.
  • 2 Kgs 19:30–31The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
  • Ps 80:9You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root, and filled the land.
  • Isa 1:9Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have been like Gomorrah.
  • Jer 44:28Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.
  • Isa 10:20–22It will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
  • Rom 11:5Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
  • Rom 9:27Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;
  • Jer 30:19Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they will not be small.
  • Isa 65:9I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there.
  • Gal 3:29If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
  • Isa 6:13If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remains when they are felled; so the holy seed is its stock.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 37:31YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 37:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.