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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Isaiah 40:3–8. His three-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
The time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, having come, the people of God must be prepared, by repentance and faith, for the favours designed them; and, in order to call them to both these, we have here the voice of one crying in the wilderness, which may be applied to those prophets who were with the captives in their wilderness-state, and who, when they saw the day of their deliverance dawn, called earnestly upon them to prepare for it, and assured them that all the difficulties which stood in the way of their deliverance should be got over. It is a good sign that mercy is preparing for us if we find God's grace preparing us for it, Psa 10:17. But it must be applied to John the Baptist; for, though God was the speaker, he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and his business was to prepare the way of the Lord, to dispose men's minds for the reception and entertainment of the gospel of Christ. The way of the Lord is prepared,
I.By repentance for sin; that was it which John Baptist preached to all Judah and Jerusalem (Mat 3:2, Mat 3:5), and thereby made ready a people prepared for the Lord, Luk 1:17.
1.The alarm is given; let all take notice of it at their peril; God is coming in a way of mercy, and we must prepare for him, Isa 40:3-5. If we apply it to their captivity, it may be taken as a promise that, whatever difficulties lie in their way, when they return they shall be removed. This voice in the wilderness (divine power going along with it) sets pioneers on work to level the roads. But it may be taken as a call to duty, and it is the same duty that we are called to, in preparation for Christ's entrance into our souls.
(1.)We must get into such a frame of spirit as will dispose us to receive Christ and his gospel: "Prepare you the way of the Lord; prepare yourselves for him, and let all that be suppressed which would be an obstruction to his entrance. Make room for Christ: Make straight a highway for him." If he prepare the end for us, we ought surely to prepare the way for him. Prepare for the Saviour; lift up your heads, O you gates! Psa 24:7, Psa 24:9. Prepare for the salvation, the great salvation, and other minor deliverances. Let us get to be fit for them, and then God will work them out. Let us not stand in our own light, nor put a bar in our own door, but find, or make, a highway for him, even in that which was desert ground. This is that for which he waits to be gracious.
(2.)We must get our hearts levelled by divine grace. Those that are hindered from comfort in Christ by their dejections and despondencies are the valleys that must be exalted. Those that are hindered from comfort in Christ by a proud conceit of their own merit and worth are the mountains and hills that must be made low. Those that have entertained prejudices against the word and ways of God, that are untractable, and disposed to thwart and contradict even that which is plain and easy because it agrees not with their corrupt inclinations and secular interests, are the crooked that must be made straight and the rough places that must be made plain. Let but the gospel of Christ have a fair hearing, and it cannot fail of acceptance. This prepares the way of the Lord; and thus God will by his grace prepare his own way in all the vessels of mercy, whose hearts he opens as he did Lydia's.
2.When this is done the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, Isa 40:5.
(1.)When the captives are prepared for deliverance Cyrus shall proclaim it, and those shall have the benefit of it, and those only, whose hearts the Lord shall stir up with courage and resolution to break through the discouragements that lay in their way, and to make nothing of the hills, and valleys, and all the rough places.
(2.)When John Baptist has for some time preached repentance, mortification, and reformation, and so made ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luk 1:17), then the Messiah himself shall be revealed in his glory, working miracles, which John did not, and by his grace, which is his glory, binding up and healing with consolations those whom John had wounded with convictions. And this revelation of divine glory shall be a light to lighten the Gentiles. All flesh shall see it together, and not the Jews only; they shall see and admire it, see it and bid it welcome; as the return out of captivity was taken notice of by the neighbouring nations, Psa 126:2. And it shall be the accomplishment of the word of God, not one iota or tittle of which shall fall to the ground: The mouth of the Lord has spoken it, and therefore the hand of the Lord will effect it.
II.By confidence in the word of the Lord, and not in any creature.
The mouth of the Lord having spoken it, the voice has this further to cry (he that has ears to hear let him hear it), The word of our God shall stand for ever, Isa 40:8.
1.By this accomplishment of the prophecies and promises of salvation, and the performance of them to the utmost in due time, it appears that the word of the Lord is sure and what may be safely relied on. Then we are prepared for deliverance when we depend entirely upon the word of God, build our hopes on that, with an assurance that it will not make us ashamed: in a dependence upon this word we must be brought to own that all flesh is grass, withering and fading.
(1.)The power of man, when it does appear against the deliverance, is not to be feared; for it shall be as grass before the word of the Lord: it shall wither and be trodden down. The insulting Babylonians, who promise themselves that the desolations of Jerusalem shall be perpetual, are but as grass which the spirit of the Lord blows upon, makes nothing of, but blasts all its glory; for the word of the Lord, which promises their deliverance, shall stand for ever, and it is not in the power of their enemies to hinder the execution of it.
(2.)The power of man, when it would appear for the deliverance, is not to be trusted to; for it is but as grass in comparison with the word of the Lord, which is the only firm foundation for us to build our hope upon. When God is about to work salvation for his people he will take them off from depending upon creatures, and looking for it from hills and mountains. They shall fail them, and their expectations from them shall be frustrated: The Spirit of the Lord shall blow upon them; for God will have no creature to be a rival with him for the hope and confidence of his people; and, as it is his word only that shall stand for ever, so in that word only our faith must stand. When we are brought to this, then, and not till then, we are fit for mercy.
2.The word of our God, that glory of the Lord which is now to be revealed, the gospel, and that grace which is brought with it to us and wrought by it in us, shall stand for ever; and this is the satisfaction of all believers, when they find all their creature-comforts withering and fading like grass. Thus the apostle applies it to the word which by the gospel is preached unto us, and which lives and abides for ever as the incorruptible seed by which we are born again, Pe1 1:23-25. To prepare the way of the Lord we must be convinced,
(1.)Of the vanity of the creature, that all flesh is grass, weak and withering. We ourselves are so, and therefore cannot save ourselves; all our friends are so, and therefore are unable to save us. All the beauty of the creature, which might render it amiable, is but as the flower of grass, soon blasted, and therefore cannot recommend us to God and to his acceptance. We are dying creatures; all our comforts in this word are dying comforts, and therefore cannot be the felicity of our immortal souls. We must look further for a salvation, look further for a portion.
(2.)Of the validity of the promise of God. We must be convinced that the word of the Lord can do that for us which all flesh cannot - that, forasmuch as it stands for ever, it will furnish us with a happiness that will run parallel with the duration of our souls, which must live for ever; for the things that are not seen, but must be believed, are eternal.
Historical interpretation
Four Centuries of Reception
2 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. [Isaiah 40:6-8]
(Verse 6 and following) The voice of one saying, Cry out. And I said, What shall I cry out? All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower falls; because the breath of the LORD blows upon it. Truly the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower falls; but the word of our God will stand forever. (LXX: The voice of one saying, Cry out. And I said, What shall I cry out? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of grass.) The grass withers, and the flower falls; because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower falls. But the word of our God remains forever. This portion marked with asterisks is added from the Hebrew and Theodotion's edition. From this it is clear that it was either omitted by the LXX or gradually lost through the error of scribes, since both the preceding and following verses end with 'flower'. Above we have read, the Prophet saying: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said: Here I am, send me; and he said: Go and tell this people: Hearing you will hear, and will not understand: and seeing you will see, and will not perceive, and so on. After enduring a harsh preaching, now the voice of the Lord saying, he asks what he should shout, fearing similar things; and starting from the general, All flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass, he comes to the particular, so that he may still say about the people: Truly the people are grass. And in truth, if anyone were to consider the frailty of the flesh, and how we grow and decline in a matter of hours, and do not remain in the same state: and that which we speak, dictate, and write, passes quickly from our lives: he will not hesitate to call the flesh hay, and its glory as the flower of hay, or the meadows of the fields. For the one who was recently an infant suddenly becomes a child; the child suddenly becomes a young person; and throughout the uncertain passage of time, he is transformed into old age; and he realizes himself to be old before he marvels at no longer being young. A beautiful woman who drew after her flocks of young men, is contracted in her countenance: and she who was once for love, afterwards is for disdain. Which an excellent orator among the Greeks writes: The beauty of the body either fails with time, or is consumed by sickness. Therefore the flesh is withered, and the beauty is fallen off; because the spirit of the madness of God and of his sentence has blown upon her (that I may return from a general discourse to the order of the Scripture), of him who bears the image of the earthly, and serves vices and luxury; and he is like hay and a passing flower. But whoever has and keeps the image of the heavenly, that person is the flesh which sees the salvation of the Lord, which is daily renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Creator, and receiving an incorruptible and immortal body, changes glory, not nature. But the word of our Lord, and those who are associated with the word, endure forever.
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Summary
Isaiah 40:7 profoundly illustrates the inherent fragility and transience of human existence through the vivid imagery of perishing vegetation. It declares that just as grass and flowers swiftly wither and fade under the powerful breath of the Lord, so too are all people inherently mortal and fleeting. This stark contrast between the ephemeral nature of humanity and the enduring, sovereign power of God establishes a foundational truth in the "Book of Comfort," preparing the way for the subsequent declaration of God's eternal word and a message of divine faithfulness and lasting hope for His people.
Context
Literary Context
Isaiah 40:7 is a pivotal component of the majestic opening of Isaiah's "Book of Comfort" (chapters 40-66), marking a significant shift from prophecies of judgment to a soaring message of hope, restoration, and divine sovereignty for exiled Israel. The preceding verses set a dramatic scene: a voice cries out, urging the preparation of the way of the LORD in the wilderness, followed by another voice questioning, "What shall I cry?" (Isaiah 40:6). The immediate answer, "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field" (Isaiah 40:6), introduces the central metaphor. Verse 7 then elaborates on the reason for this fading, attributing it directly to the "spirit of the LORD" blowing upon it, thereby reinforcing God's absolute sovereignty over all creation and human life. This declaration serves as a crucial theological bridge, setting up the powerful contrast with God's enduring word in Isaiah 40:8, which promises an eternal foundation amidst human impermanence.
Historical & Cultural Context
The historical setting for Isaiah 40 is the Babylonian exile, a period of profound despair, displacement, and national humiliation for the people of Judah. Stripped of their land, temple, and monarchy, they felt abandoned by God. In this context, the imagery of grass and flowers was deeply resonant with an agrarian society intimately familiar with the seasonal cycles of vegetation. The Near East's hot, dry winds, such as the sirocco, could rapidly parch and wither even lush growth, making the metaphor of life fading under a divine "breath" or "wind" particularly vivid and impactful. This served as a humbling reminder of human vulnerability and dependence in the face of overwhelming national catastrophe. Yet, it simultaneously prepared them for a message of comfort rooted in God's unchanging character, a stark contrast to the fleeting empires of their oppressors and their own transient existence.
Key Themes
The paramount theme in Isaiah 40, and particularly in verse 7, is the profound transience of human life juxtaposed with the eternal permanence and omnipotence of God. Humanity, in all its strength, beauty, and glory, is likened to fragile vegetation that quickly perishes. This theme serves to humble the people, reminding them that their ultimate hope cannot be anchored in human might, worldly glory, or political stability, all of which are subject to decay and divine judgment. Conversely, the verse powerfully emphasizes the absolute sovereignty of God, whose "spirit" or "wind" is the direct agent of this decay, demonstrating His supreme control over all life and death. This divine power, though here depicted in a humbling light, is ultimately the very basis for the comfort and restoration promised throughout the remainder of Isaiah's prophecy, as it implies that the same God who can wither can also revive, sustain, and fulfill His everlasting promises.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This term refers to green herbage, commonly found in fields or courtyards. In this context, it symbolizes the common, ubiquitous, and rapidly growing, yet equally rapidly perishing, plant life. Its use here underscores the universal and fleeting nature of human existence, highlighting its inherent fragility and lack of lasting permanence.
A primitive root meaning "to dry up" or "wither," often applied to water or herbage. It conveys the idea of decay, loss of vitality, and eventual death. When used for grass and flowers, it vividly depicts the process of decline and disappearance, emphasizing the inevitable end of all earthly life and glory, underscoring the impermanence of human strength and beauty.
This multifaceted word can mean "wind," "breath," or "spirit." In the phrase "the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it," the imagery strongly suggests a powerful, often drying or destructive, wind. This highlights God's active involvement in the natural processes of decay and mortality, implying that even a mere "breath" from God is sufficient to demonstrate the utter weakness and temporary nature of all human strength and beauty. It is the divine agency that directly brings about the fading.
Verse Breakdown
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:"
This opening clause establishes the primary metaphor, drawing a direct and observable parallel between the natural phenomenon of vegetation dying and the human condition. It speaks to the universal experience of decay and impermanence, setting a somber tone that contrasts sharply with any human pretensions of lasting strength, beauty, or achievement. It underscores the fragility inherent in all created life.
"because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it:"
This crucial clause provides the divine explanation for the observed fading. It attributes the natural process of decay not to mere chance, environmental factors, or the passage of time alone, but directly to the active agency of God. The "spirit of the LORD" (or "wind of the LORD") is depicted as a powerful, irresistible force that brings about the withering. This asserts God's absolute sovereignty over life and death, demonstrating that even the most vibrant life is utterly dependent on His will and can be extinguished by His mere "breath."
"surely the people [is] grass."
This concluding declaration explicitly applies the metaphor to humanity, removing any ambiguity and making the theological point undeniable. The word "surely" (Hebrew, ʼâkên') emphasizes the certainty and undeniable truth of the statement. It is a stark pronouncement that all people, regardless of their status, power, or beauty, share the same ephemeral nature as grass. Their existence is brief, fragile, and entirely subject to the divine will, reinforcing the theme of human transience in the face of divine permanence.
Literary Devices
Isaiah 40:7 is rich in literary devices that amplify its profound theological message. The most prominent is Metaphor, where human life is directly equated with "grass" and "flower." This comparison vividly conveys the ideas of fragility, brevity, and ultimate decay, making an abstract theological truth tangible and relatable. The natural process of vegetation withering under the sun or wind serves as a powerful analogy for the inevitable mortality of all humanity. Furthermore, the verse employs Personification by attributing the action of "blowing" to the "spirit of the LORD," giving a divine, active agent to the process of decay. This is not a passive fading but an active act initiated by God, demonstrating His direct involvement in the natural world. The entire verse also functions as a powerful Juxtaposition, setting up a dramatic contrast between the fleeting nature of "grass" (humanity) and the enduring power and permanence of the "LORD" (God), whose "spirit" initiates the fading. This contrast is then further developed in the subsequent verse, highlighting the eternal nature of God's word.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Isaiah 40:7 encapsulates a fundamental biblical truth concerning the profound disparity between human transience and divine eternity. It serves as a theological anchor, reminding humanity of its creaturely limitations, its inherent frailty, and its absolute dependence on the Creator. This humbling truth is not intended to induce despair but rather to reorient human trust and hope from fleeting earthly glories to the unchanging character and unfailing promises of God. The verse's assertion of God's active, sovereign role in the withering process underscores His absolute control over life and death, preparing the reader for the subsequent declaration of His enduring word, which alone provides lasting hope, stability, and an eternal foundation in a world perpetually marked by decay.
Reflection and Application
Isaiah 40:7 presents a profound and sobering truth that challenges our often-human-centric perspectives and the illusions of permanence we tend to build for ourselves. In a world that frequently prioritizes fleeting achievements, physical beauty, material wealth, or social status, this verse serves as a powerful call to humility and a radical re-evaluation of what truly endures. It reminds us that all human endeavors, no matter how grand, are subject to the same inevitable decay as the grass and flowers of the field. This understanding should cultivate a deep sense of dependence on God, shifting our ultimate hope and trust from the temporary to the eternal. Rather than striving for worldly glory that will surely fade, we are invited to invest our lives in that which is permanent: God Himself and His unchanging word. This perspective liberates us from the anxiety of chasing ephemeral successes and redirects our energy toward living lives that honor the One who alone is eternal, finding true security, profound meaning, and lasting purpose in His everlasting truth.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does "the spirit of the LORD" refer to the Holy Spirit, or simply a powerful wind?
In Isaiah 40:7, the Hebrew word rûwach (spirit) is best understood as a powerful wind or breath emanating from the LORD, rather than the life-giving Holy Spirit in the New Testament sense. The immediate context emphasizes the drying, withering effect, which aligns perfectly with the imagery of a scorching desert wind (like the sirocco) that quickly destroys vegetation. While rûwach can certainly refer to God's Spirit elsewhere (e.g., Genesis 1:2), here it functions as a vivid demonstration of God's sovereign power over creation, causing the ephemeral nature of humanity to be revealed. It underscores that even a mere "breath" or "wind" from God is sufficient to bring about the end of human strength and glory, thereby highlighting His immense power in contrast to human frailty.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Isaiah 40:7, with its stark declaration of human transience and the fleeting nature of all flesh, finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ, who embodies the eternal Word of God. While "all flesh is grass" and destined to wither and decay, Jesus is the Word made flesh, the very embodiment of that "word of our God [that] shall stand for ever" (Isaiah 40:8). He came into a world marked by death and decay not to succumb to it, but to offer a life that transcends the limitations of the flesh—eternal life to all who believe. Through His sacrificial death on the cross and His glorious resurrection, Jesus conquered the very mortality that defines humanity as "grass," offering a new, imperishable life to all who are united with Him (1 Peter 1:3-4). He is the ultimate, enduring reality in a world of fleeting shadows, the one in whom believers find an everlasting foundation, an unfading glory, and a hope that will never wither or fade, unlike the grass and flowers of this temporal world.