Isaiah 58:12

Comp. ch. Isaiah 61:4; Isaiah 49:8. The importance attached to the restoration of the ruined places shews that what the prophet has in view is chiefly the recovery of temporal and political prosperity. It may also throw some light on the date of the prophecy. The description of the ruins as "ancient" suggests a period considerably later than the Exile (which only lasted half a century), although the argument is not one that can be rigorously pressed.

they that shall be of thee Strictly "some of thee." Weir and Cheyne emend the text and read "thy children" (בניך for ממך). König on the other hand (Syntax, p. 37) suggests a change of the verb (reading ונבנו): "and the wastes shall be built by thee."

the old waste places Better, the ancient ruins (Isaiah 44:26).

the foundations of many generations might mean places which had been founded many generations back, but the correspondence with ch. Isaiah 61:4 seems to shew that foundations which have lain wastefor many generations are referred to.

The repairer of the breach &c. The restoration of the walls and highways will be an achievement by which the community is remembered.

paths to dwell in Cf. Job 24:13.