Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field.

And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall sit in charmel.

And judgment shall inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness dwell in the fruitful field.

And dwelt in the wilderness hath judgment, And righteousness in the fruitful field remaineth.

Then in the waste land there will be an upright rule, and righteousness will have its place in the fertile field.

And judgment will live in solitude, and justice will be seated in a fruitful place.

Et habitabit in deserto judicium, et justitia in agro culto sedebit.

And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness. The Prophet shews what is the actual condition of the Church, that is, when justice and judgment prevail; for men ought not to be like cattle, which seek nothing but plenty of food and abundance of outward things. And hence it is plain enough that the Jews were not confined to transitory enjoyments, so as to have their hope fixed exclusively on earthly blessings, as some fanatics imagine. They were enjoined to attend to that which was of the greatest importance, that justice and judgment should prevail; and undoubtedly they knew that true happiness consists in it. It is therefore our duty to look chiefly to this, that we should not, like hogs in a sty, judge of the happiness of life by abundance of bread and wine; for this is the end of all the blessings which the Lord bestows upon us, this is the object of our deliverance, "that we should serve him," as Zacharias says, "in holiness and righteousness." (Luke 1:74, 75.) Under the terms "justice" and "judgment," as we have already seen, he includes all that belongs to uprightness; for although these two words relate strictly to that equity which ought to be mutually cultivated among us, yet, since it is customary to describe the observation of the whole law by the duties of the second table, here the Prophet, by a figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole, embraces also piety and the worship of God. The Prophets are accustomed to notice the chief duties of brotherly kindness, and those which belong to the second table, because by these, more than by any others, we manifest the real state of our feelings towards God. When he declares that justice and judgment have their abode in the wilderness, as well as in the cultivated fields, this shews more clearly that the abundance of blessings promised a little before was so great that, when men saw it, they would consider that those fields which they formerly looked upon as very excellent had been comparatively barren.

Then judgment shall dwell - Or, justice shall make its appropriate dwelling-place there.
In the wilderness - In the place that was a wilderness, but that shall now be turned to a fruitful field.
In the fruitful field - In the nation that is like a fruitful field; in Judea restored.

Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness,.... In the desert part of the world, inhabited by Pagans, Papists, and Mahometans; where the Scriptures, the rule of judgment, and where the Gospel, sometimes called the judgment of the Lord, Isaiah 51:4 had no place, now they shall have one, and an abiding one; and men of judgment in spiritual and evangelical things, and such as do justice and judgment, shall dwell there:
and righteousness remain in the fruitful field; both the doctrine and practice of righteousness shall continue in the church of God, which will be the glory of it; the righteous men will be the settled constant inhabitants of it; these will be all righteous at this time, Isaiah 60:21 not only by profession, but in truth and reality; at least the far greater part; so the Targum interprets it of those that do judgment and do righteousness.

judgment--justice.
wilderness--then reclaimed.
fruitful field--then become more fruitful (Isaiah 32:15); thus "wilderness" and "fruitful field" include the whole land of Judea.

Judgment - Just judgment. Righteousness - Justice shall be executed in all the parts of the land.