The Hebrew word "comfort" (נחמו) appears twice in verse 1, creating an emphatic doubling that mirrors the "double punishment" Jerusalem received, suggesting divine comfort matches divine discipline in intensity.
Isaiah 40
Comfort for God's People
1“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
2“Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”
3The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
4Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
5The LORD’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.”
6The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
8The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
9You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Don’t be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
10Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
The Incomparable God
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13Who has directed the LORD’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor?
14Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
15Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
16Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
17All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
19A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
20He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.
21Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?
22It 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 out like a tent to dwell in,
23who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25“To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
27Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God”?
28Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
30Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
31but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
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Theme
Isaiah 40 marks a dramatic shift from judgment to comfort, as God promises restoration to His exiled people through a coming deliverer. The chapter contrasts human frailty with God's eternal word and incomparable power, emphasizing that the Creator who measures oceans and weighs mountains will tenderly shepherd His flock. This foundational passage establishes themes of divine comfort, sovereignty, and restoration that will dominate the remainder of Isaiah.
Context
This chapter begins the 'Book of Comfort' (chapters 40-66), transitioning from the judgment themes of chapters 1-39 to messages of hope and restoration.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-2 Divine Comfort Proclaimed God commands comfort for His people, declaring their punishment complete and sins forgiven
- 3-5 Preparation for God's Coming A voice calls for preparing the way of the Lord, when His glory will be revealed to all
- 6-8 Human Frailty vs. God's Eternal Word All flesh is like withering grass, but God's word endures forever
- 9-11 The Mighty Shepherd God comes as both powerful ruler and gentle shepherd who tenderly cares for His flock
- 12-17 God's Incomparable Greatness Rhetorical questions emphasize God's sovereignty over creation and nations
- 18-26 The Folly of Idolatry God's uniqueness is contrasted with lifeless idols made by human hands
- 27-31 Strength for the Weary God gives power to the faint and renews those who wait on Him
Comfort for God's People
40:1–40:11 prophecy tender
God commands comfort for His people, announcing the end of Jerusalem's punishment and the coming revelation of divine glory. The passage emphasizes God's tender care as a shepherd who gently leads His flock.
quotation_chain
The Hebrew word "comfort" (נחמו) appears twice in verse 1, creating an emphatic doubling that mirrors the "double punishment" Jerusalem received, suggesting divine comfort matches divine discipline in intensity.
The Incomparable God
40:12–40:31 prophecy contemplative
God's incomparable greatness is contrasted with the futility of idols, emphasizing His role as creator and sovereign ruler. The passage highlights the vast difference between God's infinite power and human limitations.
theme_rarity
Isaiah uniquely juxtaposes divine wisdom with idol-making foolishness, creating one of only four biblical passages where themes of idolatry and wisdom directly intersect.
Insights
Isaiah uniquely juxtaposes divine wisdom with idol-making foolishness, creating one of only four biblical passages where themes of idolatry and wisdom directly intersect.
Cross-References
Connected passages across Scripture
Isaiah 40:2 2 references
Isaiah 40:3 5 references
Quotations 2
Lexicals 3
Judges 20:45 Lexical
They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. They gleaned five thousand men of them in the highways…
Deuteronomy 2:8 Lexical
So we passed by from our brothers, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and fr…
Isaiah 51:3 Lexical
For the LORD has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her d…
Isaiah 40:6 1 reference
Isaiah 40:10 5 references
Lexicals 5
Ezekiel 20:33 Lexical
As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will b…
Ezekiel 30:22 Lexical
Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and t…
Ezekiel 29:20 Lexical
I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he served, because they worked for me,’ says the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 29:19 Lexical
Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off…
Deuteronomy 3:24 Lexical
“Lord GOD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or…
Isaiah 40:11 1 reference
Isaiah 40:12 4 references
Lexicals 4
Proverbs 16:11 Lexical
Honest balances and scales are the LORD’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.
Job 31:6 Lexical
(let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity);
Jeremiah 32:10 Lexical
I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances to him.
Job 6:2 Lexical
“Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!
Isaiah 40:14 2 references
Isaiah 40:19 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 10:9 Lexical
There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the engraver and of…
Judges 17:4 Lexical
When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith,…
Isaiah 46:6 Lexical
Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fal…
Zechariah 13:9 Lexical
I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is te…
Malachi 3:3 Lexical
and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and si…
Isaiah 40:20 1 reference
Isaiah 40:25 2 references
Isaiah 40:26 3 references
Lexicals 3
Job 9:19 Lexical
If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, ‘Who,’ says he, ‘will summon me?’
Job 9:4 Lexical
God is wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against him and prospered?
Isaiah 63:1 Lexical
Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? Who is this who is glorious in his clothing, marching i…
Isaiah 40:28 2 references
Isaiah 40:30 3 references
Lexicals 3
Lamentations 5:13 Lexical
The young men carry millstones. The children stumbled under loads of wood.
Habakkuk 2:13 Lexical
Behold, isn’t it from the LORD of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanit…
Jeremiah 51:58 Lexical
The LORD of Armies says: “The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown. Her high gates will be burned with fire.…
Isaiah 40:31 3 references
Lexicals 3
Ezekiel 17:3 Lexical
and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers which had various color…
Jeremiah 51:58 Lexical
The LORD of Armies says: “The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown. Her high gates will be burned with fire.…
Habakkuk 2:13 Lexical
Behold, isn’t it from the LORD of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanit…
Interlinear
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