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And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isaiah 37:31 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will 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 27:6He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
  • 2 Kgs 19:30–31And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
  • Ps 80:9Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
  • Isa 1:9Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
  • Jer 44:28Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
  • Isa 10:20–22And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, 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 9:27Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
  • Jer 30:19And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
  • Isa 65:9And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
  • Gal 3:29And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
  • Isa 6:13But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

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.