Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

ISAIAH 42:11KJV
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Isaiah 42:11 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 42:11 mean?

Isaiah 42:11 calls on people in desert settlements and rocky mountain regions to raise their voices in praise. The verse pictures a response reaching places far from the centers of Israel’s life, including communities associated with Kedar.

The verse gives places a voice: the wilderness and its cities are told to speak, while their inhabitants sing and shout. Following the call for a new song in verse 10, Isaiah names particular communities as participants in that song.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 42:11

  • “villages” — חָצֵר (ḥatser): This word can mean a settlement or an enclosure. Here it points to the smaller communities where Kedar’s people lived, alongside the “cities” named earlier.
  • “rock” — סֶלַע (selaʿ): This word means a rock or rocky place. “The inhabitants of the rock” may refer to people living among rocky heights; Sela is also understood by some as a place-name.

Why Isaiah 42:11 matters

  • The call reaches beyond Israel’s own towns. Kedar was associated with a people of the Arabian desert, so naming its villages gives the song a wider reach.
  • The setting helps readers picture the sound spreading across open country. The instruction to shout “from the top of the mountains” places the voices on high, exposed ground.
  • The praise is directed to the LORD, the name used for God in the KJV. Verse 12 follows the call to sing by saying, “Let them give glory unto the LORD.”

Where else these words appear

“Kedar” Hebrew H6938 · used in 11 verses

  • Genesis 25:13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,
  • Song of Solomon 1:5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
  • Isaiah 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

“sing” Hebrew H7442 · used in 52 verses

  • Leviticus 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
  • Psalms 81:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph. Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
  • Isaiah 16:10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.

“rock” Hebrew H5553 · used in 54 verses

  • Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
  • 1 Kings 19:11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
  • Isaiah 22:16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?