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But in that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of all who survive in Israel.
Isaiah 4:2 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
  • KJV In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
  • BSB On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.
  • NKJV In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped.
  • NASB On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel.

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

After judgment, the Lord promises a beautiful and glorious 'branch' and fruitful land for the surviving remnant. Many Christians see in 'Yahweh's branch' a messianic foreshadowing of Christ.

Overview

The tone shifts dramatically from judgment to restoration, marked again by 'in that day.' The 'branch' (Hebrew tsemach) is elsewhere a clear messianic title (Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12), and the historic Christian tradition reads it as pointing to the Messiah, the beauty and glory of God's renewed people. The renewed fruitfulness of the land pictures the blessing God brings to the remnant He preserves through judgment.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 34

  • Jer 23:5“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
  • Zech 6:12and speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build Yahweh’s temple;
  • Zech 3:8Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring out my servant, the Branch.
  • 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.
  • Joel 2:32It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
  • Jer 33:15“In those days, and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
  • Rom 11:4–5But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
  • Jer 44:14so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall escape or be left, to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for no one will return except those who will escape.’”
  • Obad 1:17But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
  • Isa 60:21Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
  • 2 Cor 4:6seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
  • Exod 28:2You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
  • Isa 53:2For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
  • Ezek 17:22–23“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘I will also take some of the lofty top of the cedar, and will plant it. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
  • Isa 37:31–32The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
  • Ps 72:16Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.
  • Hos 2:22–23and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel.
  • Matt 24:22Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
  • 2 Pet 1:16For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
  • Ezek 7:16But those of those who escape will escape, and will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, everyone in his iniquity.
  • Ps 85:11–12Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
  • Isa 11:4but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
  • Ps 67:6The earth has yielded its increase. God, even our own God, will bless us.
  • Rev 7:9–14After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
  • Joel 3:18It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will flow out from Yahweh’s house, and will water the valley of Shittim.
  • 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 30:23He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures.
  • Isa 27:12–13It will happen in that day, that Yahweh will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered one by one, children of Israel.
  • John 1:14The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
  • 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.
  • Isa 11:1–2A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit.
  • Isa 45:8Rain, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it.
  • Luke 21:36Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
  • Zech 9:17For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.

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 4:2YouTube · 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 4:2 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.