Isaiah 40

Listen to this chapter

Isaiah 40 opens with a divine command to comfort Jerusalem, declaring her warfare accomplished and iniquity pardoned. A voice in the wilderness calls for preparation of the Lord's way, contrasting the fleeting nature of humanity with the eternal Word of God. The chapter then extols God's incomparable majesty as Creator, dismissing the futility of idols and assuring His people that He, the everlasting God, gives strength to those who wait upon Him.

A Message of Comfort and Pardon 1–2

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah’s hand double for all her sins.

Prepare the Way of the LORD 3–5

The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain:

and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.

The Eternity of God's Word 6–8

The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.

Proclaim the Arrival of God 9–11

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!

Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those that have their young.

The Incomparable Creator 12–17

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.

All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

The Folly of Idolatry 18–26

To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

The image, a workman hath cast it, and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth for it silver chains.

He that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be moved.

Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;

that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.

To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking.

Assurance for Weary Israel 27–28

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God?

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.

Strength for Those Who Wait 29–31

He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 40

Verse 1

Comfort ye, comfort ye — The verb nacham is doubled and plural, a command to those sent to speak (v.2), and it comes straight after the sentence of 39:6–7. 'My people' and 'your God' are the covenant pair. The promise is repeated: 'the LORD shall comfort Zion' (Isa 51:3) and 'the LORD hath comforted his people' (Isa 52:9).

Verse 2

her warfare is accomplished — 'Warfare' is tsava, a host or term of service, the word of 'their host' in v.26. 'Pardoned' is ratsah, to accept, the verb of Lev 26:41, 43, 'accept of the punishment of their iniquity'. 'Double' is kephel, found only here and in Job 11:6 and 41:13. 'Speak ye comfortably' is literally 'to the heart' (Hos 2:14).

Verse 3

Prepare ye the way of the LORD — All four Gospels apply the verse to John the Baptist (Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23), and each reads 'the way of the LORD' as 'the way of the Lord', Christ's own. 'Highway' is mesillah, a built-up road, to be made straight through the 'desert' (arabah).

Verse 5

the glory of the LORD shall be revealed — 'Revealed' is galah, to uncover. Luke extends the quotation of vv.3–5 to 'And all flesh shall see the salvation of God' (Luke 3:4–6), and John writes of the Word made flesh, 'we beheld his glory' (John 1:14). 'The mouth of the LORD hath spoken it' also closes Isa 1:20 and 58:14.

Verse 6

All flesh is grass — 'Goodliness' is chesed, which the KJV usually renders 'mercy' or 'lovingkindness'; here it is attributed to man. Ps 103:15–17 makes the same contrast: 'his days are as grass', and then 'the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting'. The voice's 'What shall I cry?' is answered in vv.7–8.

Verse 8

the word of our God shall stand for ever — 'Stand' is qum, to rise up and remain. Peter takes vv.6–8 together and names the word: 'the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you' (1 Pet 1:24–25). Christ says the same of his own: 'my words shall not pass away' (Matt 24:35).

Verse 9

that bringest good tidings — Basar, to announce glad news, the verb of Isa 52:7, 'him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace', and of Isa 61:1, 'to preach good tidings unto the meek'. The whole message is 'Behold your God!', carried 'unto the cities of Judah'; Isa 52:7 gives its words, 'Thy God reigneth!'

Verse 11

feed his flock like a shepherd — Ra'ah is both 'feed' and 'shepherd', one verb in both clauses. The 'arm' that 'shall rule for him' in v.10 is the arm that gathers the lambs. Christ takes the title, 'I am the good shepherd' (John 10:11), and Ezekiel sets it in David's line, 'one shepherd… my servant David' (Ezek 34:23).

Verse 12

meted out heaven with the span — Zeret, the span of the outstretched hand; the breastplate was 'a span' long and 'a span' wide (Ex 28:16). Five measures are named: the hollow of the hand, the span, a measure, scales and a balance. Job 38:5 puts the same question to man: 'Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?'

Verse 13

Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD — 'Directed' is takan, to measure or weigh, the verb rendered 'meted out' in v.12. Paul draws on the question in Rom 11:34, 'who hath been his counsellor?', and in 1 Cor 2:16, 'who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?'

Verse 15

as a drop of a bucket — 'Drop' is mar, a single distilled drop, and 'the small dust of the balance' is the fine dust on the scales. 'Isles' is iy, the coastlands, the farthest peoples. 'A very little thing' is daq, crushed or fine. The figure ends in v.17: 'All nations before him are as nothing'.

Verse 18

what likeness will ye compare unto him? — 'Likeness' is demuth, the word of Gen 1:26, 'after our likeness', where God makes man; vv.19–20 describe the reverse, a workman casting an image. The question returns at v.25 and in Isa 46:5, and Ex 15:11 answers it: 'Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?'

Verse 22

the circle of the earth — Chug, a circle, found only here, in Job 22:14 ('the circuit of heaven') and in Prov 8:27 ('a compass upon the face of the depth'). The 'grasshoppers' (chagav) are the word of the spies in Num 13:33, 'we were in our own sight as grasshoppers'. 'Curtain' (doq) occurs only here.

Verse 26

calleth them all by names — The 'host' (tsava) is the stars brought out 'by number', as Ps 147:4 says: 'He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names'. 'Created' is bara, the verb of Gen 1:1 and the 'Creator' of v.28. The stars answer Israel's complaint in v.27.

Verse 27

My way is hid from the LORD — 'Jacob' and 'Israel' are addressed together, as in 41:14. 'Judgment' is mishpat, the right due to him, said to be 'passed over'. The complaint is repeated in 49:14, 'The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me', and answered in 49:15: 'yet will I not forget thee'.

Verse 28

fainteth not, neither is weary — The two verbs, ya'aph and yaga, return in vv.30–31: 'the youths shall faint and be weary', but those who wait 'shall run, and not be weary… walk, and not faint'. The questions repeat those of v.21, 'Have ye not known? have ye not heard?'; compare Rom 11:33, 'how unsearchable are his judgments'.

Verse 29

He giveth power to the faint — 'Might' is on, the same word as 'the greatness of his might' in v.26. The strength by which the stars are kept is the strength given to 'them that have no might'. Paul records the same answer: 'my strength is made perfect in weakness' (2 Cor 12:9).

Verse 31

wait upon the LORD — Qavah, to wait with expectation, the verb of Lam 3:25, 'The LORD is good unto them that wait for him', and of Ps 27:14. 'Renew' is chalaph, to change, so the strength is exchanged. The verbs of v.28 return here: the LORD 'fainteth not, neither is weary', and those who wait 'run, and not be weary'.