Isaiah 40:29

29 That giveth strength to the weary, and strength to them that be not, and multiplieth stalworthness. (He who giveth strength to the weary, and strength to those who have it not, and multiplieth stalwartness.)

Isaiah 40:29 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 40:29

He giveth power to the faint
Who are ready to faint under afflictions, because they have not immediate deliverance, or their prayers are not answered at once, or promises not fulfilled as they expected; to such he gives fresh supplies of spiritual strength; he strengthens their faith, and enlarges their views, to behold the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, and confirms his blessings and promises of grace unto them, ( Psalms 27:13 ) . The Targum is,

``who giveth wisdom to the righteous that breathe after the words of the law:''

and to them that have no might he increaseth strength;
not that they have no might at all, strictly speaking; for then it could not be properly said their strength was increased by him; but that their might and power were very small, and that in their own apprehensions they had none, and then it is that fresh strength is given them; as the apostle says, "when I am weak, then am I strong"; ( 2 Corinthians 12:10 ) , though this may be understood, not of the strength of their graces, but of their sins and corruptions: a word from the same root as this here used signifies "iniquity"; and the sense may be, that the Lord increases the spiritual strength of such on whom the lust's, corruptions, and virtuosity of nature have not the power and dominion ^F5.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 "Cur non sumatur", (Mynwa) "illis quibus non sunt vitiosae concupiscentiae robur auger", Gusset. Ebr. Comment. p. 21.

Isaiah 40:29 In-Context

27 Why sayest thou, Jacob, and speakest thou, Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my doom (is) passed (over) from my God? (Why sayest thou, Jacob, yea, why sayest thou, Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my cause is no longer God's concern?)

28 Whether thou knowest not, either heardest thou not? God, everlasting Lord, that made of nought the ends of [the] earth, shall not fail, neither shall travail, neither ensearching of his wisdom is. (Knowest thou not, or heardest thou not? God, the everlasting Lord, who made the ends of the earth out of nothing, shall not faint, nor grow tired, and there is no one who understandeth his wisdom.)

29 That giveth strength to the weary, and strength to them that be not, and multiplieth stalworthness. (He who giveth strength to the weary, and strength to those who have it not, and multiplieth stalwartness.)

30 (Some) Young men shall fail, and shall travail, and (other) young men shall fall down in their sickness.

31 But they that hope in the Lord, shall change strength, they shall take feathers as eagles; they shall run, and shall not travail; they shall go, and shall not fail. (But they who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall grow wings like eagles; they shall run, and shall not labour, or struggle; they shall go, and shall not faint.)