By this verse he removes every doubt, lest any one should reject what he had promised as to the restoration of the people, because the Jews and the Israelites were at the time as dead men. He therefore says, I will water the thirsty soul; some render it "the weary soul;" but nphs yphh, nupesh oiphe, is often taken metaphorically for a thirsty soul. So in Psalm 143:6, it is said, "I am as a dry land;" weariness cannot be suitably applied to land; and in Isaiah 29:8, we have these words, "As one dreaming he thinks that he eats; afterwards, when awake, his soul is empty: and as one who thinks that he drinks," etc. The Prophet employs there the same word, because there is hardly ever weariness without thirst; we contract thirst by weariness. Then the soul is said to be yphh, oiphe, by a metaphor, not weary, but on the contrary thirsty; and the verb corresponds, which means to inebriate, to irrigate, or to water, and often to satiate. I will then irrigate, or water to satiety, thy dry soul, and every soul which faints, etc., but as d'v, dab, means to be deficient, and sometimes to be wearied, here it denotes a defect, for it follows, I will fill It is then to be taken for a famished soul. [1] The meaning is, that though the Israelites should hunger and thirst, and be for a time without food and drink, yet their want would not prevent God from affording them relief, for he had the power and the will to satisfy the hungry, and to give drink to the thirsty, or to those who were fainting on account of thirst. It now follows, --

Footnotes

1 - Both the Sept. and Syr. render the first word "thirsty," and the second, "hungry," agreeably with the verbs which precede them. The "weary" and "sorrowful" of our version are no doubt wrong; the first, adopted from the Vulg.; and the second from the Targ. For I will water the thirsty soul, And every hungry soul will I fill. "Soul" here means the person, the individual, -- "I will water him that is thirsty," etc. -- Ed.

Sorrowful - Or, languishing Jeremiah 31:12.

For I have satiated the weary soul,.... As sinners are at first awakenings and convictions; when sin is made exceeding sinful and loathsome to them, and becomes an uneasiness, and they a burden to themselves on account of it; when they labour, till they are weary, to get food for their famishing souls; weary in seeking for righteousness to cover them, in working for life to save them, and inquiring after rest; but cannot find neither food, nor righteousness, nor life, nor rest, till they come to Christ; and as all the saints are weary of a body of sin and death, with mourning over it, and groaning under it; weary of Satan's temptations and buffetings; weary of the world, and the men of it, and with afflictive dispensations of Providence in it; and are as weary travellers passing through a waste howling wilderness; these the Lord "satiates", refreshes, and even "inebriates" (h), as the word used signifies, with his love; which is very reviving and refreshing, and is a feast of itself; and is very satisfying when it is shed abroad in the heart; when souls have a delightful sense of it, and see their interest in it; particularly satiates with his pardoning grace and mercy, and with food, and fulness of it, in Christ; with righteousness, life, and salvation by him; and with rest, peace, joy, and comfort in him: and this, though a promise and prophecy of what would be, yet, because of the certainty of it, is represented as if it had been done already; as also what follows:
and I have replenished every sorrowful soul; that is sorry for sin after a godly sort, and mourns for it after an evangelical manner; is troubled for want of the divine presence, and is pressed with afflictions inward and outward: these the Lord "replenishes" or "fills" (i); that is, with all good, as the Targum adds, and fills them to satisfaction; with Christ, and all good things by him; with peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation; with the Spirit, his gifts and graces; with Gospel provisions, the goodness and fatness of his house; with all spiritual blessings now, and with glory and happiness hereafter. The Septuagint, and all the Oriental versions, instead of "weary" and "sorrowful", render the words "thirsty and hungry"; and such as hunger and thirst after righteousness; after the discoveries of pardoning grace; after Christ, and salvation by him; after more knowledge of him, and communion with him; are, sooner or later, filled with those things they are hungering and thirsting after; see Matthew 5:6.
(h) "inebriavi", V. L. Vatablus; "inebriabo", Piscator. (i) "implebo", Schmidt; "explebo", Piscator; "explevero", Junius & Tremellius; "implevero", Cocceius.

The "weary, sorrowful," and indigent state of Israel will prove no obstacle in the way of My helping them.

For - The words are a promise, that God would give his people abundance of ease and plenty.