Isaiah 40:30

30 Young men may grow tired and weary, even the fittest may stumble and fall;

Isaiah 40:30 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 40:30

Even the youths shall faint and be weary
Such as are in the prime of their strength, and glory in it, yet through the hand of God upon them, by one disease or another, their strength is weakened in the way; or they meet with that which they are not equal to, and sink under, and are discouraged, and obliged to desist. Some think the Babylonians and Chaldeans are here meant, the enemies of Israel, and by whom they were carried captive. The Targum interprets this clause, as well as the following, of wicked and ungodly men; and so do Jarchi and Kimchi: it may be applied to the Heathen emperors, who persecuted the church of God, and were smitten by him, and found it too hard a work to extirpate Christianity out of the world, which they thought to have done; and also to all the antichristian states, who have given their power and strength to the beast: and the young men shall utterly fail;
or, "falling shall fall" F6; stumble and fall, die and perish; or, however, not be able to perform their enterprise.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (wlvky lwvk) "corruendo corruent", Montanus; "labefacti cadent", Castalio.

Isaiah 40:30 In-Context

28 Haven't you known, haven't you heard that the everlasting God, ADONAI, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow tired or weary? His understanding cannot be fathomed.
29 He invigorates the exhausted, he gives strength to the powerless.
30 Young men may grow tired and weary, even the fittest may stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in ADONAI will renew their strength, they will soar aloft as with eagles' wings; when they are running they won't grow weary, when they are walking they won't get tired.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.