Isaiah 40:2-12

2 "¹Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her ²warfare has ended, That her ³iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD'S hand ⁴Double for all her sins."

3 ⁵A voice is calling, "⁶Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

4 "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

5 Then the ⁷glory of the LORD will be revealed, And ⁸all flesh will see it together; For the ⁹mouth of the LORD has spoken."

6 A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" ¹⁰All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

7 The ¹¹grass withers, the flower fades, When the ¹²breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But ¹³the word of our God stands forever.

9 Get yourself up on a ¹⁴high mountain, O Zion, bearer of ¹⁵good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the ¹⁶cities of Judah, "¹⁷Here is your God!"

10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come ¹⁸with might, With His ¹⁹arm ruling for Him. Behold, His ²⁰reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.

11 Like a shepherd He will ²¹tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

12 Who has ²²measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?

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Isaiah 40:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 40

This chapter treats of the comforts of God's people; of the forerunner and coming of the Messiah; of his work, and the dignity of his person; of the folly of making idols, and of the groundless complaints of the church of God. The consolations of God's people, by whom to be administered, and the matter, ground, and reason of them, Isa 40:1,2. John the Baptist, the harbinger of Christ, is described by his work and office, and the effects of it; it issuing in the humiliation of some, and the exaltation of others, and in the revelation of the glory of Christ, Isa 40:3-5, then follows an order to every minister of the Gospel what he should preach and publish; the weakness and insufficiency of men to anything that is spiritually good; their fading and withering goodliness, which is to be ascribed to the blowing of the Spirit of God upon it; and the firmness and constancy of the word of God is declared, Isa 40:6-8, next the apostles of Christ in Jerusalem are particularly exhorted to publish fervently and openly the good tidings of the Gospel; to proclaim the coming of Christ, the manner of it, and the work he came about; and to signify his faithful discharge of his office as a shepherd, Isa 40:9-11, the dignity of whose person is set forth by his almighty power, by his infinite wisdom, and by the greatness of his majesty, in comparison of which all nations and things are as nothing, Isa 40:12-17 and then the vanity of framing any likeness to God, and of forming idols for worship, is observed, Isa 40:18-25, and from the consideration of the divine power in creation and upholding all things, the church of God is encouraged to expect renewed strength and persevering grace, and is blamed for giving way to a distrustful and murmuring spirit, Isa 40:26-31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 22

1. Isaiah 35:4; Zechariah 1:13
2. Isaiah 41:11-13; Isaiah 49:25; Isaiah 54:15, 17
3. Isaiah 33:24; Isaiah 53:5, 6, 11
4. Jeremiah 16:18; Zechariah 9:12; Revelation 18:6
5. Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6; John 1:23
6. Malachi 3:1; Malachi 4:5, 6
7. Isaiah 6:3; Habakkuk 2:14
8. Isaiah 52:10; Joel 2:28
9. Isaiah 1:20; Isaiah 34:16; Isaiah 58:14
10. Job 14:2; Psalms 102:11; Psalms 103:15; 1 Peter 1:24, 25
11. Psalms 90:5, 6; James 1:10, 11
12. Job 4:9; Job 41:21; Isaiah 11:4; Isaiah 40:24
13. Isaiah 55:11; Isaiah 59:21; Matthew 5:18
14. Isaiah 52:7
15. Isaiah 61:1
16. Isaiah 44:26
17. Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 35:2
18. Isaiah 9:6, 7
19. Isaiah 59:16, 18
20. Isaiah 62:11; Revelation 22:12
21. Jeremiah 31:10; Ezek 34:12-14, 23, 31; Micah 5:4; John 10:11, 14-16
22. Job 38:8-11; Psalms 102:25, 26; Isaiah 48:13; Hebrews 1:10-12

Footnotes 12

[a]. Lit "to the heart of"
[b]. Or "hard service"
[c]. Or "penalty of iniquity accepted as paid off"
[d]. Or "of one calling out"
[e]. Or "In order that the"
[f]. Another reading is "I said"
[g]. Or "constancy"
[h]. Or "Because"
[i]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
[j]. DSS reads "waters of the sea"
[k]. Or "half cubit;" i.e. 9 in.
[l]. Lit "contained" or "comprehended"