Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40 is the fortieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and the first chapter of the section known as "Deutero-Isaiah" (Isaiah 40-55), dating from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Parts of this chapter are cited in all four canonical Gospels of the New Testament.

Isaiah 40
← chapter 39 chapter 41 →
The Great Isaiah Scroll, the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran from the second century BC, contains all the verses in this chapter.
Book	Book of Isaiah
Hebrew Bible part	Nevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part	5
Category	Latter Prophets
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	23

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 31 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).^[1]

Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (3rd century BC or later):

• 1QIsa^a: complete
• 1QIsa^b: extant verses 1-4
• 4QIsa^b (4Q56): extant verses 1‑4, 22‑26
• 5Q³ (5QIsa): extant verses 16, 18‑19

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^Q; 6th century).^[2]

New Testament references

• Isaiah 40:1–5: Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:1–20; John 1:19–28^[3]
• Isaiah 40:6–8: 1 Peter 1:22–25^[3]
• Isaiah 40:9–31: Romans 11:33–36^[3]

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex.^[4] Isaiah 40 is a part of the Consolations (Isaiah 40–66). {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.

{P} 40:1-2 {S} 40:3-5 {P} 40:6-8 {S} 40:9-11 {S} 40:12-16 {P} 40:17-20 {S} 40:21-24 {S} 40:25-26 {S} 40:27-31 {S}

Structure

John Skinner, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges commentary, refers to verses 1-11 as the prologue (to Deutero-Isaiah).^[5]

Prepare the Way for the LORD (40:1–5)

Verse 1

Comfort,

comfort my people,

says your God.^[6]

• "Your": The pronominal suffix is second masculine plural, may refer to "God’s people" or "unidentified heralds commanded to comfort Jerusalem".^[7]

Verse 2

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her

that her warfare is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the Lord's hand

double for all her sins.^[8]

In the Septuagint this passage is addressed to the priests.^[9]

Verse 3

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.^[10]

This verse is cited in all four gospels in New Testament as fulfilled in the person of John the Baptist, who prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ the Lord (Matthew 3:1–3; Mark 1:2–5; Luke 3:2–6; John 1:23). John himself confessed that the verse pertains to him:

He [John the Baptist] said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said".^[11]

Some English translations associate the reference to "the wilderness" with "the voice which cries out": examples include the King James Version and New King James Version, the Geneva Bible, Wycliffe's translation, the Darby Bible and Brenton's translation of the Septuagint. In more recent translations, "the wilderness" is associated with the place where the way of the Lord is to be prepared: examples include the ASV, Common English Bible, Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version:

A voice cries:

"In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord".^[12]

Verse 4

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:^[13]

Cited in Luke 3:5.^[14]

Verse 5

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:

for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.^[15]

Cited in Luke 3:6.^[14]

The Enduring Word (40:6–8)

Verse 6

The voice said, Cry.

And he said, What shall I cry?

All flesh is grass,

and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:^[16]

• "All flesh is grass" (Hebrew: כל־הבשר חציר kāl-ha-bā-shār khā-tsîr^[17] compare to Isaiah 37:27 and see also Job 5:25; Psalm 90:5; Psalm 92:7; Psalm 103:15.^[18] is answering the question, "What shall I cry?" (also see Job 8:12; Job 14:2; Psalm 37:2).^[19]

Cited in 1 Peter 1:24.^[20]

Verse 7

The grass withers, the flower fades

because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it;

surely the people are grass.^[21]

• "Spirit of the Lord": can also rendered as "wind of Jehovah" (Psalm 103:16) or may refer to the "withering east wind of those countries sent by Jehovah" (Jonah 4:8).^[22]

Verse 8

Isaiah 40:8 in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and German, with the verse analysed word-by-word (from Elias Hutter, 1602).

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God shall stand forever.^[23]

Cited together with Isaiah 40:6 in 1 Peter 1:24–25.^[20]

Here Is Your God! (40:9–31)

Verse 13

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or as His counselor has taught Him?^[24]

• Cross reference: Jeremiah 23:18
• Cited in Romans 11:34

Verse 22

Mural in Church of the Sermon on the Mount (on the campus of Mar Elias Educational) with the text from Isaiah 40:22 by Dianne Roe.

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;^[25]

Westermann notes the similarity of parts of this verse to other Bible verses: verse 22a vs. Job 34:13b and verse 22b vs. Psalm 104:2b.^[26] This verse contains several rare words  – such as דֹּק֙‎, doq ("curtain"), and מָתַח‎, mathach ("spread, stretch"), which are only found here, as well as ח֣וּג‎, chug ("circle"), which are only found in a few other verses (Proverbs 8:27; Job 22:14; Job 26:10) – suggesting "well-defined, distinctive traditions."^[26]

• "Circle" (of the earth): is translated from the Hebrew word חוּג‎, chug, which also denotes "horizon, circuit, vault of the heavens";^[27][28] while the Gesenius Lexicon also adds "sphere".^{[lower-alpha 1]} It can refer to
  • the full circuit  – the seen and unseen halves – of the stars across the dome of the sky, or
  • the vault of heaven (Job 22:14) extending "in a half-circle from horizon to horizon", or
  • a circular observable horizon (cf. Proverbs 8:27; Job 26:10)

It is to emphasize the range of God’s authority "over everything the eye can see in every direction, even to the distant ends of the earth,"^[30][31] but not necessarily refer to the "circular nature of the earth."^[31]

Rashi mentions an expression with the same root in Isaiah 44:13 "and with a compass (וּבַמְּחוּגָה)" to view this word as a "circle" (as made by a compass).^[32] A newer edition of the Douay–Rheims Bible renders it as "globe"^[33] – and so does the Spanish version of the Jubilee Bible (el globo,^[34] although the English version renders as "circle"^[35]) – but an older edition of the Douay-Reims renders it as "compasse" (original spelling in 1582 CE).^[36]

Uses

Modern literature

A part of the Hebrew text of Isaiah 40:4 was used by Shmuel Yosef Agnon as the title for his 1912-novella, "Vehaya Ha'akov Lemishor" ("The Crooked Shall Be Made Straight").^[37]

Music

The King James Version of verses 1–5, 9 and 11 from this chapter is cited as texts in the English-language oratorio "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel (HWV 56).^[38]

See also

• All flesh is grass
• Christian messianic prophecies
• John the Baptist
• Messianic prophecies of Jesus
• Related Bible parts: Exodus 19, Jeremiah 23, Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1, Romans 11, 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 5

Notes

1. "a circle, sphere, used of the arch or vault of the sky."^[29]

References

1. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
2. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
3. Isaiah 40, Berean Study Bible
4. As implemented in the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 edition of the Hebrew Bible in English.
5. Skinner, J. (1897-8), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Isaiah 40, accessed 30 July 2018
6. Isaiah 40:1 ESV
7. Note on Isaiah 40:1 in NET Bible
8. Isaiah 40:2 ESV
9. Isaiah 40:2 - Brenton's Septuagint Translation
10. Isaiah 40:3 KJV
11. John 1:23 ESV
12. Isaiah 40:3 - ESV
13. Isaiah 40:4 KJV
14. Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.) (1905). Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers. Isaiah 40. London : Cassell and Company, Limited, [1905-1906] Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019.
15. Isaiah 40:5 KJV
16. Isaiah 40:6 KJV
17. Hebrew Text Analysis: Isaiah 40:6. Biblehub
18. Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Isaiah 40". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
19. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Isaiah 40. Accessed 28 April 2019.
20. Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Bible - Isaiah 40. James Murphy (ed). London: Blackie & Son, 1884.
21. Isaiah 40:7 MEV
22. Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible. "Isaiah 40". 1871.
23. Isaiah 40:8 MEV
24. Isaiah 40:13 NKJV
25. Isaiah 40:22 ESV
26. Westermann 1969, p. 56.
27. Smith 2009, p. 116.
28. Brown 1994 "חוּג"
29. Gesenius 1979 "חוּג"
30. Smith 2009, pp. 116–117.
31. Oswalt 1998, p. 67.
32. Yeshayahu - Isaiah - Chapter 40. The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary. Chabad.org. Accessed on February 28, 2019.
33. Isaiah 40:22 Douay-Rheims
34. Isaiah 40:22 JBS
35. Isaiah 40:22 JUB
36. Isaiah 40:22 in the 1582 Douay-Rheims Old Testament
37. Aschkenasy, Nehama (1983). "Biblical Substructures in the Tragic Form Hardy, "The Mayor of Casterbridge" Agnon, "And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight"". Modern Language Studies. 13 (1): 105. doi:10.2307/3194323. JSTOR 3194323.
38. Block, Daniel I. (2001). "Handel's Messiah: Biblical and Theological Perspectives" (PDF). Didaskalia. 12 (2). Retrieved 19 July 2011.

Sources

• Brown, Francis; Briggs, Charles A.; Driver, S. R. (1994). The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (reprint ed.). Hendrickson Publishers. ISBN 978-1565632066.
• Gesenius, H. W. F. (1979). Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures: Numerically Coded to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, with an English Index. Translated by Tregelles, Samuel Prideaux (7th ed.). Baker Book House.
• Oswalt, John (1998). The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66. (Volume 2 of The Book of Isaiah). New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Vol. 23. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802825346. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
• Smith, Gary V. (2009). Isaiah 40-66. New American commentary. Vol. 15. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 9780805401448. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
• Westermann, Claus (1969). Isaiah 40-66. Old Testament Library. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664226459. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
• Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

External links

Jewish

• Isaiah 40: Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

• Isaiah 40 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate