and they will spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
- BSB They will sprout among the grass like willows by flowing streams.
- NKJV They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.’
- NASB And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.’
- NLT They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.
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 blessed offspring will flourish like grass and willows by flowing streams. It pictures the vigorous, abundant life that the Spirit brings.
Overview
Where God pours His Spirit, His people thrive like well-watered plants. The imagery conveys growth, vitality, and security. This flourishing of the Spirit-blessed people anticipates the fruitful life Christ gives to those who abide in Him as branches in the vine.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 58:11and Yahweh will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters don’t fail.
- Ps 1:3He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
- Ps 92:13–15They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts.
- Ezek 17:5“‘“He also took some of the seed of the land, and planted it in fruitful soil. He placed it beside many waters. He set it as a willow tree.
- Acts 4:4But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
- Ps 137:1–2By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
- Isa 61:11For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
- Acts 2:41–47Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.
- Acts 5:14More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.
- Lev 23:40You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days.
- Job 40:22The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 44:4 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.