Isaiah 35:8

An highway. See on chs. 11:16; 19:23–25. Had the people of Israel been faithful to God, the Land of Promise would have been restored to its Edenic fertility and beauty, as here pictured in vs. 1–4, 7, and sickness and disease would have disappeared from among them, as portrayed in vs. 5, 6 (see pp. 27, 28). From all nations sincere seekers for truth would travel “The way of holiness” up to Jerusalem to learn of the true God (see pp. 28–30). “The way of holiness” would not be for “the unclean,” or insincere, yet it would be so clearly marked that even the simplest of men, if honest in their search for truth, would not lose their way. All “the ransomed of the Lord” would eventually “come to Zion” along this highway “with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads” (see on Isa. 35:10; cf. Isa. 52:1; Joel 3:17). But Israel proved unfaithful, and accordingly forfeited the glorious destiny that might have been hers, and the promises of this chapter belong to the church today (see pp. 35, 36).

And a way. Nineteen Hebrew manuscripts, including Dead Sea scroll 1QIs, together with the Syriac, do not have these words.