And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
An highway - such a causeway (raised way, macluwl (H4547), from a Hebrew root, caalal (H5549), to cast up) as was used for the march of armies, valleys being filled up, hills and other obstructions removed (Isaiah 62:10; cf. Isaiah 40:3-4).
The way of holiness - Hebraism for the holy way. Horsley translates, 'The way of the Holy One:' but the words that follow, and Isaiah 35:10, show it is the way leading the redeemed back to Jerusalem, both the literal and the heavenly (Isaiah 52:1; Joel 3:17; Revelation 21:27); still Christ at His coming again shall be the Leader on the way, for which reason it is called, "The way of the Lord" (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1).
But it (shall be) for those: the wayfaring men - rather, 'for He (the Holy One) shall be with them (Horsley). So DeDieu. The Hebrew pronoun is masculine, whereas the Hebrew for "way" ( derek (H1870)) is generally feminine [wªhuw laamow]. It is not enough that the way is clear and open, unless God go before as the Guide and Pointer out of the way. He alludes to the history, Exodus 13:21 (Calvin).
Though fools - rather, 'and (even) fools;' i:e., the simple shall not go astray-namely, because 'He shall be with them' (Matthew 11:25; 1 Corinthians 1:26-28). We all were and are naturally fools (Titus 3:3). We must know ourselves to be so before we can become wise. The Ethnach (disjunctive) accent of punctuation forbids joining the Hebrew for "the wayfaring man" with the preceding words, as Horsley and DeDieu take it, 'He (Yahweh) shall be with them walking in the way.' The Ethnach binds us to join in with the following words, as the English version.