Isaiah 40:21-31

21 ¹Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood ²from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is He who sits above the ³circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like ⁴grasshoppers, Who ⁵stretches out the heavens like a ⁶curtain And spreads them out like a ⁷tent to dwell in.

23 He it is who reduces ⁸rulers to nothing, Who ⁹makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

24 Scarcely * have they been planted, Scarcely * have they been sown, Scarcely * has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the ¹⁰storm carries them away like stubble.

25 "¹¹To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One.

26 ¹²Lift up your eyes on high And see ¹³who has created these stars, The ¹⁴One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the ¹⁵greatness of His might and the strength of His power, ¹⁶Not one of them is missing.

27 ¹⁷Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, "My way is ¹⁸hidden from the LORD, And the ¹⁹justice due me escapes the notice of ²⁰my God "?

28 ²¹Do you not know? Have you not heard? The ²²Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is ²³inscrutable *.

29 He gives strength to the ²⁴weary, And to him who lacks might He ²⁵increases power.

30 Though ²⁶youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous ²⁷young men stumble badly,

31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will ²⁸gain new strength; They will ²⁹mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:21-31 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.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 19:1; Psalms 50:6; Isaiah 37:26; Acts 14:17; Romans 1:19
• 2. Isaiah 48:13; Isaiah 51:13
• 3. Job 22:14; Proverbs 8:27
• 4. Numbers 13:33
• 5. Job 9:8; Isaiah 37:16; Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 44:24
• 6. Psalms 104:2
• 7. Job 36:29; Psalms 18:11; Psalms 19:4
• 8. Job 12:21; Psalms 107:40; Isaiah 34:12
• 9. Isaiah 5:21; Jeremiah 25:18-27
• 10. Isaiah 17:13; Isaiah 41:16
• 11. Isaiah 40:18
• 12. Isaiah 51:6
• 13. Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 48:12, 13
• 14. Psalms 147:4
• 15. Psalms 89:11-13
• 16. Isaiah 34:16; Isaiah 48:13
• 17. Isaiah 49:4, 14
• 18. Isaiah 54:8
• 19. Job 27:2; Job 34:5; Luke 18:7, 8
• 20. Isaiah 25:1
• 21. Isaiah 40:21
• 22. Genesis 21:33; Psalms 90:2
• 23. Psalms 147:5; Romans 11:33
• 24. Isaiah 50:4; Jeremiah 31:25
• 25. Isaiah 41:10
• 26. Jeremiah 6:11; Jeremiah 9:21
• 27. Isaiah 9:17
• 28. Job 17:9; Psalms 103:5; 2 Cor 4:8-10, 16
• 29. Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11; Luke 18:1; 2 Corinthians 4:1, 16; Galatians 6:9; Hebrews 12:3

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "is enthroned"
• [b]. Or "vault"
• [c]. Or "void"
• [d]. Or "Not even"
• [e]. Or "Not even"
• [f]. Or "Not even"
• [g]. So DSS and ancient versions; M.T. "strong"
• [h]. Lit "passes by my God"
• [i]. Or "hope in"
• [j]. Or "sprout wings"
• [k]. Or "pinions"