Isaiah 35:9 Meaning: The Redeemed Walk Where No Lion Dares

The Hebrew word for lion (’ar·Yeh) is plain enough, but the next phrase goes deeper. Ravenous beast comes from two words: pe·Ritz, a violent one or robber, and chai·yOt, living creatures. Together they picture something cruel and alive, ready to tear. These are not just animals; they are every real threat that would stop a traveller in their tracks.

Then comes the key word: redeemed (ge·’u·Lim). This comes from go’el, the kinsman-redeemer. In Israelite law, the go’el was the closest relative who bought back a family member from slavery or poverty. So the redeemed are not just people who escaped. They are people bought back, claimed, brought home by a close family member. God is that Redeemer. And the verb walk (ha·la·khu) is active, they are moving forward, not standing still. The verse does not promise a destination without struggle; it promises a journey where the worst dangers simply are not there.

Christians have read this verse as pointing to different kinds of safety. Calvin, writing from a Reformed perspective, saw it as God personally clearing every obstacle along the journey of salvation. The Lord goes ahead, removes the hazards, and brings His work to completion. Matthew Henry applied it to Christ’s kingdom: in the gospel age, the church travels free from the spiritual lions that once threatened it.

Gill, a Baptist commentator, went further: the lion is Satan, the roaring lion of 1 Peter 5:8, who cannot climb onto the Holy Way to destroy God’s redeemed. Adam Clarke, in his Wesleyan commentary, highlighted the word go’el, the Kinsman-Redeemer, and noted that the redeemed walk there for ever. None of these readings deny literal dangers. They all agree that the deepest threat has been removed.

A common misreading is to treat this as a promise that Christians will never face difficulty, persecution, or sudden harm. In fact, the verse describes the Holy Way itself. The dangers that are absent are the ones that could undo a soul. The enemy who can steal salvation, the guilt that could crush hope, the ultimate power of death, those are the lions that will not be found there. The road is safe for the redeemed, not safe from every hardship. We may walk through dark valleys, but no beast will drag us off the path.

This week, you may face something that feels like a lion: a worry that keeps you awake, a relationship that threatens your peace, a fear that you are not safe. Let this verse name the promise again. Whatever that fear is, it has no place on the Holy Way. You are not walking alone; you are walking as someone redeemed, bought back by God Himself. When the fear rises, stop and say quietly: That lion is not on this road. I am walking with the Redeemer. You can move forward not because the road is easy, but because the worst thing has already been removed.