Comfort, the Enduring Word, and the Incomparable God

Isa 40:6-8 The prophet now hears a second voice, and then a third, entering into conversation with it. “Hark, one speaking, Cry! And he answers, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty as the flower of the field. Grass is withered, flower faded: for the breath of Jehovah has blown upon it. Surely grass is the people; grass withereth, flower fadeth: yet the word of our God will stand for ever.

” A second voice celebrates the divine word of promise in the face of the approaching fulfilment, and appoints a preacher of its eternal duration. The verb is not ואמר ( et dixi , lxx, Vulg.) , but ואמר; so that the person asking the question is not the prophet himself, but an ideal person, whom he has before him in visionary objectiveness. The appointed theme of his proclamation is the perishable nature of all flesh (Isa 40:5 πᾶσα σάρξ, here πᾶσα ἡ σάρξ), and, on the other hand, the imperishable nature of the word of God.

Men living in the flesh are universally impotent, perishing, limited; God, on the contrary (Isa 31:3), is the omnipotent, eternal, all-determining; and like Himself, so is His word, which, regarded as the vehicle and utterance of His willing and thinking, is not something separate from Himself, and therefore is the same as He. Chasdō is the charm or gracefulness of the outward appearance (lxx; 1Pe 1:24, δόξα: see Schott on the passage, Jam 1:11, εὐπρέπεια).

The comparison instituted with grass and flower recals Isa 37:27 and Job 8:12, and still more Psa 90:5-6, and Job 14:2. Isa 40:7 describes what happens to the grass and flower. The preterites, like the Greek aoristus gnomicus (cf. , Isa 26:10), express a fact of experience sustained by innumerable examples: exaruit gramen , emarcuit flos ; consequently the כּי which follows is not hypothetical (granting that), but explanatory of the reason, viz.

, “because rūăch Jehovah hath blown upon it,” i. e. , the “breath” of God the Creator, which pervades the creation, generating life, sustaining life, and destroying life, and whose most characteristic elementary manifestation is the wind. Every breath of wind is a drawing of the breath of the whole life of nature, the active indwelling principle of whose existence is the rūăch of God.

A fresh v. ought to commence now with אכן. The clause העם חציר אכן is genuine, and thoroughly in Isaiah’s style, notwithstanding the lxx, which Gesenius and Hitzig follow. עכן is not equivalent to a comparative כן (Ewald, §105, a ), but is assuring, as in Isa 45:15; Isa 49:4; Isa 53:4; and hâ‛âm (the people) refers to men generally, as in Isa 42:5. The order of thought is in the form of a triolet.

The explanation of the striking simile commences with 'âkhēn (surely); and then in the repetition of the words, “grass withereth, flower fadeth,” the men are intended, resemble the grass and the flower. Surely grass is the human race; such grass withereth and such flower fadeth, but the word of our God (Jehovah, the God of His people and of sacred history) yâqūm le‛ōlâm , i.

e. , it rises up without withering or fading, and endures for ever, fulfilling and verifying itself through all times. This general truth refers, in the preset instance, to the word of promise uttered by the voice in the desert. If the word of God generally has an eternal duration, more especially is this the case with the word of the parousia of God the Redeemer, the word in which all the words of God are yea and amen.

The imperishable nature of this word, however, has for its dark foil the perishable nature of all flesh, and all the beauty thereof. The oppressors of Israel are mortal, and their chesed with which they impose and bribe is perishable; but the word of God, with which Israel can console itself, preserves the fields, and ensures it a glorious end to its history.

Thus the seal, which the first crier set upon the promise of Jehovah’s speedy coming, is inviolable; and the comfort which the prophets of God are to bring to His people, who have now been suffering so long, is infallibly sure.

Isa 40:6-8 The prophet now hears a second voice, and then a third, entering into conversation with it. “Hark, one speaking, Cry! And he answers, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty as the flower of the field. Grass is withered, flower faded: for the breath of Jehovah has blown upon it. Surely grass is the people; grass withereth, flower fadeth: yet the word of our God will stand for ever.

” A second voice celebrates the divine word of promise in the face of the approaching fulfilment, and appoints a preacher of its eternal duration. The verb is not ואמר ( et dixi , lxx, Vulg.) , but ואמר; so that the person asking the question is not the prophet himself, but an ideal person, whom he has before him in visionary objectiveness. The appointed theme of his proclamation is the perishable nature of all flesh (Isa 40:5 πᾶσα σάρξ, here πᾶσα ἡ σάρξ), and, on the other hand, the imperishable nature of the word of God.

Men living in the flesh are universally impotent, perishing, limited; God, on the contrary (Isa 31:3), is the omnipotent, eternal, all-determining; and like Himself, so is His word, which, regarded as the vehicle and utterance of His willing and thinking, is not something separate from Himself, and therefore is the same as He. Chasdō is the charm or gracefulness of the outward appearance (lxx; 1Pe 1:24, δόξα: see Schott on the passage, Jam 1:11, εὐπρέπεια).

The comparison instituted with grass and flower recals Isa 37:27 and Job 8:12, and still more Psa 90:5-6, and Job 14:2. Isa 40:7 describes what happens to the grass and flower. The preterites, like the Greek aoristus gnomicus (cf. , Isa 26:10), express a fact of experience sustained by innumerable examples: exaruit gramen , emarcuit flos ; consequently the כּי which follows is not hypothetical (granting that), but explanatory of the reason, viz.

, “because rūăch Jehovah hath blown upon it,” i. e. , the “breath” of God the Creator, which pervades the creation, generating life, sustaining life, and destroying life, and whose most characteristic elementary manifestation is the wind. Every breath of wind is a drawing of the breath of the whole life of nature, the active indwelling principle of whose existence is the rūăch of God.

A fresh v. ought to commence now with אכן. The clause העם חציר אכן is genuine, and thoroughly in Isaiah’s style, notwithstanding the lxx, which Gesenius and Hitzig follow. עכן is not equivalent to a comparative כן (Ewald, §105, a ), but is assuring, as in Isa 45:15; Isa 49:4; Isa 53:4; and hâ‛âm (the people) refers to men generally, as in Isa 42:5. The order of thought is in the form of a triolet.

The explanation of the striking simile commences with 'âkhēn (surely); and then in the repetition of the words, “grass withereth, flower fadeth,” the men are intended, resemble the grass and the flower. Surely grass is the human race; such grass withereth and such flower fadeth, but the word of our God (Jehovah, the God of His people and of sacred history) yâqūm le‛ōlâm , i.

e. , it rises up without withering or fading, and endures for ever, fulfilling and verifying itself through all times. This general truth refers, in the preset instance, to the word of promise uttered by the voice in the desert. If the word of God generally has an eternal duration, more especially is this the case with the word of the parousia of God the Redeemer, the word in which all the words of God are yea and amen.

The imperishable nature of this word, however, has for its dark foil the perishable nature of all flesh, and all the beauty thereof. The oppressors of Israel are mortal, and their chesed with which they impose and bribe is perishable; but the word of God, with which Israel can console itself, preserves the fields, and ensures it a glorious end to its history.

Thus the seal, which the first crier set upon the promise of Jehovah’s speedy coming, is inviolable; and the comfort which the prophets of God are to bring to His people, who have now been suffering so long, is infallibly sure.

Isa 40:6-8 The prophet now hears a second voice, and then a third, entering into conversation with it. “Hark, one speaking, Cry! And he answers, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty as the flower of the field. Grass is withered, flower faded: for the breath of Jehovah has blown upon it. Surely grass is the people; grass withereth, flower fadeth: yet the word of our God will stand for ever.

” A second voice celebrates the divine word of promise in the face of the approaching fulfilment, and appoints a preacher of its eternal duration. The verb is not ואמר ( et dixi , lxx, Vulg.) , but ואמר; so that the person asking the question is not the prophet himself, but an ideal person, whom he has before him in visionary objectiveness. The appointed theme of his proclamation is the perishable nature of all flesh (Isa 40:5 πᾶσα σάρξ, here πᾶσα ἡ σάρξ), and, on the other hand, the imperishable nature of the word of God.

Men living in the flesh are universally impotent, perishing, limited; God, on the contrary (Isa 31:3), is the omnipotent, eternal, all-determining; and like Himself, so is His word, which, regarded as the vehicle and utterance of His willing and thinking, is not something separate from Himself, and therefore is the same as He. Chasdō is the charm or gracefulness of the outward appearance (lxx; 1Pe 1:24, δόξα: see Schott on the passage, Jam 1:11, εὐπρέπεια).

The comparison instituted with grass and flower recals Isa 37:27 and Job 8:12, and still more Psa 90:5-6, and Job 14:2. Isa 40:7 describes what happens to the grass and flower. The preterites, like the Greek aoristus gnomicus (cf. , Isa 26:10), express a fact of experience sustained by innumerable examples: exaruit gramen , emarcuit flos ; consequently the כּי which follows is not hypothetical (granting that), but explanatory of the reason, viz.

, “because rūăch Jehovah hath blown upon it,” i. e. , the “breath” of God the Creator, which pervades the creation, generating life, sustaining life, and destroying life, and whose most characteristic elementary manifestation is the wind. Every breath of wind is a drawing of the breath of the whole life of nature, the active indwelling principle of whose existence is the rūăch of God.

A fresh v. ought to commence now with אכן. The clause העם חציר אכן is genuine, and thoroughly in Isaiah’s style, notwithstanding the lxx, which Gesenius and Hitzig follow. עכן is not equivalent to a comparative כן (Ewald, §105, a ), but is assuring, as in Isa 45:15; Isa 49:4; Isa 53:4; and hâ‛âm (the people) refers to men generally, as in Isa 42:5. The order of thought is in the form of a triolet.

The explanation of the striking simile commences with 'âkhēn (surely); and then in the repetition of the words, “grass withereth, flower fadeth,” the men are intended, resemble the grass and the flower. Surely grass is the human race; such grass withereth and such flower fadeth, but the word of our God (Jehovah, the God of His people and of sacred history) yâqūm le‛ōlâm , i.

e. , it rises up without withering or fading, and endures for ever, fulfilling and verifying itself through all times. This general truth refers, in the preset instance, to the word of promise uttered by the voice in the desert. If the word of God generally has an eternal duration, more especially is this the case with the word of the parousia of God the Redeemer, the word in which all the words of God are yea and amen.

The imperishable nature of this word, however, has for its dark foil the perishable nature of all flesh, and all the beauty thereof. The oppressors of Israel are mortal, and their chesed with which they impose and bribe is perishable; but the word of God, with which Israel can console itself, preserves the fields, and ensures it a glorious end to its history.

Thus the seal, which the first crier set upon the promise of Jehovah’s speedy coming, is inviolable; and the comfort which the prophets of God are to bring to His people, who have now been suffering so long, is infallibly sure.

Isa 40:9 The prophet accordingly now takes, as his standpoint, the time when Jehovah will already have come. “Upon a high mountain get thee up, O evangelistess Zion; lift up they voice with strength, evangelistess Jerusalem: lift up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God. ” Knobel and others follow the lxx and Targum, and regard Zion and Jerusalem as accusatives of the object, viz.

, “preacher of salvation (i. e. , a chorus of preachers) to Zion-Jerusalem;” but such parallels as Isa 52:7 and Isa 62:11 are misleading here. The words are in apposition (A. S. Th. εὐαγγελιζομένη Σιών). Zion-Jerusalem herself is called an evangelistess: the personification as a female renders this probable at the outset, and it is placed beyond all doubt by the fact, that it is the cities of Judah (the daughters of Zion-Jerusalem) that are to be evangelized.

The prophet’s standpoint here is in the very midst of the parousia . When Jerusalem shall have her God in the midst of her once more, after He has broken up His home there for so long a time; she is then, as the restored mother-community, to ascend a high mountain, and raising her voice with fearless strength, to bring to her daughters the joyful news of the appearance of their God.

The verb bissēr signifies literally to smooth, to unfold, then to make glad, more especially with joyful news. It lies at the root of the New Testament εὐαγγελίζειν (evangelize), and is a favourite word of the author of chapters 40-66, that Old Testament evangelist, though it is no disproof of Isaiah’s authorship (cf. , Nah 2:1). Hitherto Jerusalem has been in despair, bowed down under the weight of the punishment of her sins, and standing in need of consolation.

But now that she has Jehovah with her again, she is to lift up her voice with the most joyful confidence, without further anxiety, and to become, according to her true vocation, the messenger of good tidings to all Judaea.

Isa 40:10 In Isa 40:10 the prophet goes back from the standpoint of the fulfilment to that of the prophecy. “Behold the Lord, Jehovah, as a mighty one will He come, His arm ruling for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His retribution before Him. ” We must not render the first clause “with strong,” i. e. , with strength, as the lxx and Targum do. The Beth is Beth essentiae (cf.

, Isa 26:4; Ges. §154, 3, a ). He will come in the essence, strength, and energy of a strong one; and this is still further defined by the participial, circumstantial clause, “His arm ruling for Him” ( brachio suo ipsi dominante ). It is His arm that rules for Him, i. e. , that either brings into subjection to Him, or else overthrows whatever opposes Him. Nevertheless, Isa 40:10 does not present Him merely in one aspect, namely as coming to judge and punish, but in both aspects, viz.

, that of the law and that of the gospel, as a righteous rewarder; hence the double name of God, Adonai Jehovah (compare Isa 3:15; Isa 28:16; Isa 30:15, all in the first part), which is used even in the Pentateuch, and most frequently by Amos and Ezekiel, and which forms, as it were, an anagram. פּעלּה is already met with in Lev 19:13 as a synonym of שׂכר, passing from the general idea of work to that of something earned and forfeited.

Jehovah brings with Him the penal reward of the enemies of His people, and also the gracious reward of the faithful of His people, whom He will compensate for their previous sufferings with far exceeding joys (see Isa 62:11).

Isa 40:11 The prophet dwells upon this, the redeeming side not the judicial, as he proceeds to place the image of the good shepherd by the side of that of the Lord Jehovah. “He will feed His flock like a shepherd, take the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are giving suck. ” The flock is His people, now dispersed in a foreign land.

The love with which He tends this flock is shown, by way of example, in His conduct towards the טלאים (= טליים from טלי = טלה), the young lambs that have not long been born, and the עלות, those giving suck, lactantes (Vulg. fetae ), not those that are sucking, sugentes (from עוּל med. Vav , to nourish). Such as cannot keep pace with the flock he takes in his arms, and carries in the bosom of his dress; and the mothers he does not overdrive, but ינהל (see at Psa 23:2), lets them go gently alone, because they require care (Gen 33:13).

With this loving picture the prologue in Isa 40:1-11 is brought to a close. It stands at the head of the whole, like a divine inauguration of the prophet, and like the quintessence of what he is commanded to proclaim. Nevertheless it is also an integral part of the first address. For the questions which follow cannot possibly be the commencement of the prophecy, though it is not very clear how far they form a continuation.

The connection is the following: The prophet shows both didactically and paraenetically what kind of God it is whose appearance to redeem His people has been prophetically announced in Isa 40:1-11. He is the incomparably exalted One. This incomparable exaltation makes the ignorance of the worshipers of idols the more apparent, but it serves to comfort Israel.

And Israel needs such consolation in its present banishment, in which it is so hard for it to comprehend the ways of God.

Isa 40:12 In order to bring His people to the full consciousness of the exaltation of Jehovah, the prophet asks in Isa 40:12, “Who hath measured the waters with the hollow of his hand, and regulated the heavens with a span, and taken up the dust of the earth in a third measure, and weighed the mountains with a steelyard, and hills with balances? ” Jehovah, and He alone, has given to all these their proper quantities, their determinate form, and their proportionate place in the universe.

How very little can a man hold in the hollow of his hand ( shō‛al )! how very small is the space which a man’s span will cover! how little is contained in the third of an ephah ( shâlı̄sh ; see at Psa 80:6)! and how trifling in either bulk or measure is the quantity you can weight in scales, whether it be a peles , i. e. , a steelyard ( statera ), or mō'zenayim , a tradesman’s balance ( bilances ), consisting of two scales.

But what Jehovah measures with the hollow of His hand, and with His span, is nothing less than the waters beneath and the heavens above. He carries a scoop, in which there is room for all the dust of which the earth consists, and a scale on which He has weighed the great colossal mountains.

Isa 40:13-14 A second question follows in Isa 40:13, Isa 40:14. “Who regulated the Spirit of Jehovah, and ( who ) instructed Him as His counsellor? With whom took He counsel, and who would have explained to Him and instructed Him concerning the path of right, and taught Him knowledge, and made known to Him a prudent course? ” The first question called to mind the omnipotence of Jehovah; this recalls His omniscience, which has all fulness in itself, and therefore precludes all instruction from without.

“The Spirit of Jehovah” is the Spirit which moved upon the waters at the creation, and by which chaos was reduced to order. “Who,” inquires this prophet - “who furnished this Spirit with the standard, according to which all this was to be done? ” תּכּן as in Isa 40:12, to bring into conformity with rule, and so to fit for regulated working. Instead of mercha tifchah athnach , which suggests the Targum rendering, “ quis direxit spiritum?

Jehova ” (vid. , Pro 16:2), it would be more correct to adopt the accentuation tifchah munach athnach (cf. , Exo 21:24; Exo 23:9), and there are certain codices in which we find this (see Dachselt). In Isa 40:13 we might follow the Septuagint translation, καὶ τίς αὐτοῦ σύμβουλος ἐγένετο ὃς σύμβιβᾶ (Rom 11:34; 1Co 2:16, συμβιβάσει) αὐτόν, but in this case we miss the verb היה.

The rendering we have given above is not so harsh, and the accentuation is indifferent here, since silluk is never written without tifchah if only a single word precedes it. In Isa 40:14 the reciprocal נוע is connected with את = אם. The futt. cons. retain their literal meaning: with whom did He consult, so that he supplied Him with understanding in consequence ( hēbhı̄n , generally to understand, here in a causative sense).

The verbs of instruction are sometimes construed with בּ of the lesson taught, sometimes with a double accusative. In reply to the questions in Isa 40:13, Isa 40:14, which are essentially one, Israel must acknowledge that its God is the possessor of absolute might, and also of absolute wisdom.

Isa 40:13-14 A second question follows in Isa 40:13, Isa 40:14. “Who regulated the Spirit of Jehovah, and ( who ) instructed Him as His counsellor? With whom took He counsel, and who would have explained to Him and instructed Him concerning the path of right, and taught Him knowledge, and made known to Him a prudent course? ” The first question called to mind the omnipotence of Jehovah; this recalls His omniscience, which has all fulness in itself, and therefore precludes all instruction from without.

“The Spirit of Jehovah” is the Spirit which moved upon the waters at the creation, and by which chaos was reduced to order. “Who,” inquires this prophet - “who furnished this Spirit with the standard, according to which all this was to be done? ” תּכּן as in Isa 40:12, to bring into conformity with rule, and so to fit for regulated working. Instead of mercha tifchah athnach , which suggests the Targum rendering, “ quis direxit spiritum?

Jehova ” (vid. , Pro 16:2), it would be more correct to adopt the accentuation tifchah munach athnach (cf. , Exo 21:24; Exo 23:9), and there are certain codices in which we find this (see Dachselt). In Isa 40:13 we might follow the Septuagint translation, καὶ τίς αὐτοῦ σύμβουλος ἐγένετο ὃς σύμβιβᾶ (Rom 11:34; 1Co 2:16, συμβιβάσει) αὐτόν, but in this case we miss the verb היה.

The rendering we have given above is not so harsh, and the accentuation is indifferent here, since silluk is never written without tifchah if only a single word precedes it. In Isa 40:14 the reciprocal נוע is connected with את = אם. The futt. cons. retain their literal meaning: with whom did He consult, so that he supplied Him with understanding in consequence ( hēbhı̄n , generally to understand, here in a causative sense).

The verbs of instruction are sometimes construed with בּ of the lesson taught, sometimes with a double accusative. In reply to the questions in Isa 40:13, Isa 40:14, which are essentially one, Israel must acknowledge that its God is the possessor of absolute might, and also of absolute wisdom.

Isa 40:15 From His exaltation as Creator, the prophet now proceeds to His exaltation as Governor of the world. “Behold, nations like a little drop on a bucket, and like a grain of sand in a balance, are they esteemed; behold, islands like an atom of dust that rises in the air. ” Upon Jehovah, the King of the world, does the burden rest of ruling over the whole human race, which is split up into different nations; but the great masses of people over whom Jehovah rules are no more burden to Him than a drop hanging upon a bucket is a burden to the man who carries it ( min is used in the same sense as in Sol 4:1; Sol 6:5), no more than the weight in a balance is perceptibly increased or diminished by a grain of sand that happens to lie upon it ( shachaq , from shâchaq , to grind to powder).

The islands , those fragments of firm ground in the midst of the ocean (אי = ivy , from אוה, to betake one’s self to a place, and remain there), upon which the heathen world was dispersed (Gen 10), are to Him who carries the universe like the small particle of dust (דּק from דּקק, to crush or pulverize), which is lifted up, viz. , by the slightest breath of wind (יטּול metaplastic fut.

niph. of tūl = nâtal , cf. , Isa 63:9). The rendering of Knobel, “dust which is thrown,” would require עפר (Isa 41:2); and neither that of Gesenius, viz. , “He takes up islands like a particle of dust,” nor that of Hitzig, “He carries islands,” etc. , is admissible, for טוּל = נטל signifies tollere , not portare ; and the former, viz. , insulas tollit , furnishes no answer to the question, “How so, and to what end?

”

Isa 40:16 By the side of this vanishing diminutiveness on the part of man as contrasted with Jehovah, everything by which man could express his adoration of the exalted One comes incomparably short of His exaltation. “And Lebanon is not a sufficiency of burning, nor its game a sufficiency of burnt-offerings;” i. e. , there is not enough wood to sustain the fire, nor a sufficient supply of sacrificial animals to be slaughtered, and to ascend in fire.

דּי (constr. דּי) signifies that which suffices (and then that which is plentiful); it differs therefore from τὸ δέον, what is requisite.

Isa 40:17 From the obverse of the thought in Isa 40:15 the prophet returns to the thought itself, and dwells upon it still further. “All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are regarded by Him as belonging to nullity and emptiness. ” 'Ephes is the end at which a thing ceases, and in an absolute sense that at which all being ceases, hence non-existence or nullity.

Tōhū (from tâhâh , related to shâ'âh ; vid. , Comm. on Job , at Job 37:6), a horrible desolation, like the chaos of creation, where there is nothing definite, and therefore as good as nothing at all; min is hardly comparative in the sense of “more nothing than nothing itself” (Like Job 11:17, where “brighter” is to be supplied, or Mic 7:4, where “sharper” is similarly required), but is used in the same partitive sense as in Isa 41:24 (cf.

, Isa 44:11 and Psa 62:10).

Isa 40:18 The conclusion drawn from Isa 40:17, that Jehovah is therefore the matchless Being, shapes itself into a question, which is addressed not to idolaters, but to such of the Israelites as needed to be armed against the seductive power of idolatry, to which the majority of mankind had yielded. “And to whom can ye liken God, and what kind of image can ye place beside Him!

” The ו before ואל is conclusive, as in Isa 28:26, and the futures are modi potent. : with what can ye bring into comparison (אל as in Isa 14:10) El , i. e. , God, the one Being who is absolutely the Mighty? and what kind of demūth (i. e. , divine, like Himself) can ye place by His side?

Isa 40:19 Least of all can an idol bear comparison with Him. “The idol, when the smith has cast it, the melter plates it with gold, and melteth silver chains for it. ” The object ( happesel , the idol), which is here placed first as the theme in the accusative (lit. the image hewn out), denotes in this instance an idol generally. חרשׁ is as comprehensive as faber .

בּזּהב רקּע signifies here to cover over with a זהב רקּע ( laminâ auri ), the verb being used in a denominative sense, and not in its primary meaning. As we must assume, according to Isa 40:20, that the prophet intends to carry us into the midst of the process of manufacturing the idol, the paratactic expression is to be pointed as above, viz. , “after the (a) smith has cast it (compare Arab.

nasik , a piece of cast metal), the (a) melter (goldsmith) covers it with gold plate;” and tsōrēph , which is palindromically repeated, according to Isaiah’s custom, is not the third pers. poel (on the poel of strong stems, see at Job 9:15 and Psa 109:10), but a participle, equivalent to הוּא צורף (as in Isa 29:8, which see; and also, according to the accents, Isa 33:5), “and he melteth chains of silver,” viz.

, to fasten the image.

Isa 40:20 This is the origin of a metal idol. The wooden idol is described in Isa 40:20 : “The man who is impoverished in oblations, he chooseth a block of wood that will not rot; he seeketh for himself a skilful smith, to prepare an idol that will not shake. ” He who has fallen into such poverty that he can only offer to his God a poor oblation ( terūmâh , accusative, according to Ewald, §284, c ), has an idol cut for himself out of a block of wood.

That sâkhan (Arab. sakana or sakuna ) is an ancient word, is evident from Deu 8:9. The verb yimmōt , like yittōl in Isa 40:15, is a fut. niphal , to be made to shake. A wooden image, which is planed at the bottom, and made heavier below than above, to prevent its falling over with every shock, is to be a god! The thing carries its own satire, even when described with the greatest seriousness.

Isa 40:21 Having thus depicted in a few strokes the infatuation of idolatry, the prophet addresses the following question to such of the Israelites as are looking at it with longing eye, even if they have not already been deluded by it. “Do ye not know? Do ye not hear? Is it not proclaimed to you from the beginning? Have ye not obtained an insight into the foundations of the earth?

” We have here four questions chiastically arranged. The absolute being of God, which is above all created things, is something which may be either inferred per ratiocinationem , or learned per traditionem . When Israel failed to acknowledge the absolute distinctness and unequalled supremacy of Jehovah its God, it hardened itself against the knowledge which it might acquire even in a natural way (cf.

, Psa 19:1-14 and Rom 1:20), and shut its ears against the teaching of revelation and tradition, which had come down from the very beginning of its history. The first two questions are construed with futures, the other two with perfects; the former refer to what is possible, the latter to what is an actual fact. Have you - this is the meaning of the four questions - have you obtained no knowledge of the foundations of the earth, namely, as to the way in which they were laid?

Isa 40:22 The prophet now proceeds to describe the God whom both His works and word proclaim. The participles which follow are predicates of the subject, which filled the consciousness of the prophet as well as that of every believer. “He who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants resemble grasshoppers; who has spread out the heavens like gauze, and stretched them out like a tent-roof to dwell in.

” He, the manifested and yet unknown, is He who has for His throne the circle of the heavens ( chūg shâmayim , Job 22:14), which arches over the earth, and to whom from His inaccessible height men appear as diminutive as grasshoppers (Num 13:33); He who has spread out the blue sky like a thin transparent garment ( dōq , a thin fabric, like daq , fine dust, in Isa 40:15), and stretched it out above the earth like a tent for dwelling in ( 'ōhel lâshebheth ). The participle brings to view the actions and circumstances of all times.

In the present instance, where it is continued in the historical sense, it is to be resolved into the perfect; in other cases, the preservation of the world is evidently thought of as a creatio continua (see Psychol. P. 111).

Isa 40:23-24 This is followed by a series of predicates of God the Ruler of the universe. “He who giveth up rulers to annihilation; maketh judges of the earth like a desolation. They are hardly planted, hardly sown, their stem has hardly taken root in the earth, and He only blows upon them, and they dry up, and the storm carries them away like stubble. ” There is nothing so high and inaccessible in the world, that He cannot bring it to nothing, even in the midst of its most self-confident and threatening exaltation.

Rōzenı̄m are solemn persons, σεμνοί, possessors of the greatest distinction and influence; shōphelı̄m , those who combine in themselves the highest judicial and administrative power. The former He gives up to annihilation; the latter He brings into a condition resembling the negative state of the tōhū out of which the world was produced, and to which it can be reduced again.

We are reminded here of such descriptions as Job 12:17, Job 12:24. The suddenness of the catastrophe is depicted in Isa 40:24. אף בּל (which only occurs here), when followed by וגם in the apodosis (cf. , 2Ki 20:4), signifies that even this has not yet taken place when the other also occurs: hence vixdum plantati sunt , etc. The niphal נטּע and the pual זרע denote the hopeful commencement; the poel שׁרשׁ the hopeful continuation.

A layer or seed excites the hope of blossom and fruit, more especially when it has taken root; but nothing more is needed than a breath of Jehovah, and it is all over with it (the verb nâshaph is used in this verse, where plants with stems are referred to; a verb with a softer labial, nâshabh , was employed above in connection with grass and flowers). A single withering breath lays them at rest; and by the power of Jehovah there rises a stormy wind, which carries them away like light dry stubble (נשׂא); compare, on the other hand, the verb used in Isa 40:15, viz.

, tūl = nâtal , to lift up, to keep in the air).

Isa 40:23-24 This is followed by a series of predicates of God the Ruler of the universe. “He who giveth up rulers to annihilation; maketh judges of the earth like a desolation. They are hardly planted, hardly sown, their stem has hardly taken root in the earth, and He only blows upon them, and they dry up, and the storm carries them away like stubble. ” There is nothing so high and inaccessible in the world, that He cannot bring it to nothing, even in the midst of its most self-confident and threatening exaltation.

Rōzenı̄m are solemn persons, σεμνοί, possessors of the greatest distinction and influence; shōphelı̄m , those who combine in themselves the highest judicial and administrative power. The former He gives up to annihilation; the latter He brings into a condition resembling the negative state of the tōhū out of which the world was produced, and to which it can be reduced again.

We are reminded here of such descriptions as Job 12:17, Job 12:24. The suddenness of the catastrophe is depicted in Isa 40:24. אף בּל (which only occurs here), when followed by וגם in the apodosis (cf. , 2Ki 20:4), signifies that even this has not yet taken place when the other also occurs: hence vixdum plantati sunt , etc. The niphal נטּע and the pual זרע denote the hopeful commencement; the poel שׁרשׁ the hopeful continuation.

A layer or seed excites the hope of blossom and fruit, more especially when it has taken root; but nothing more is needed than a breath of Jehovah, and it is all over with it (the verb nâshaph is used in this verse, where plants with stems are referred to; a verb with a softer labial, nâshabh , was employed above in connection with grass and flowers). A single withering breath lays them at rest; and by the power of Jehovah there rises a stormy wind, which carries them away like light dry stubble (נשׂא); compare, on the other hand, the verb used in Isa 40:15, viz.

, tūl = nâtal , to lift up, to keep in the air).

Isa 40:25 The thought of Isa 40:18 now recurs like a refrain, a conclusion being appended to the premises by means of ו, as was the case there. “And to whom will ye compare me, to whom I can be equal? saith the Holy One.” Not haqqâdōsh , because a poetical or oratorical style omits the article wherever it can be dispensed with. The Holy One asks this, and can ask it, because as such He is also exalted above the whole world (Job 15:15; Job 25:5).

Isa 40:26 After the questions in Isa 40:18 and Isa 40:25, which close syllogistically, a third start is made, to demonstrate the incomparable nature of Jehovah. “Lift up your eyes on high, and see: who hath created these things? It is He who bringeth out their host by number, calleth them all by names, because of the greatness of ( His ) might, and as being strong in power: there is not one that is missing.

” Jehovah spoke in Isa 40:25; now the prophet speaks again. We have here the same interchange which occurs in every prophetic book from Deuteronomy downwards, and in which the divine fulness of the prophets is displayed. The answer does not begin with המּוציא, in the sense of “He who brings them out has created them;” but the participle is the predicate to the subject of which the prophet’s soul is full: Jehovah, it is He who brings out the army of stars upon the plane of heaven, as a general leads out his army upon the field of battle, and that bemispâr , by number, counting the innumerable stars, those children of light in armour of light, which meet the eye as it looks up by night.

The finite verb יקרא denotes that which takes place every night. He calls them all by name (comp. the derivative passage, Psa 147:4): this He does on account of the greatness and fulness of His might ( 'ōnı̄m , vires , virtus ), and as strong in power, i. e. , because He is so. This explanation is simpler than Ewald’s (§293, c ), viz. , “because of the power (τὸ κρατερὸν) of the Strong One.

” The call addressed to the stars that are to rise is the call of the Almighty, and therefore not one of all the innumerable host remains behind. אישׁ individualizes; נעדּר (participle), as in Isa 34:16, suggests the idea of a sheep that is missed from the flock through staying behind. The second part of the address closes here, having demonstrated the folly of idolatry from the infinite superiority of God; and from this the third part deduces consolation for Israel in the midst of its despair.

Isa 40:27 Such of the Israelites are required first of all to be brought to a consciousness of the folly of idolatry are not called Israel at all, because they place themselves on a part with the gōyı̄m . But now the prophet addresses those of little faith, who nevertheless desire salvation; those who are cast down, but not in utter despair. “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hidden from Jehovah, and my right is overlooked by my God?

” The name Jacob stands here at the head, as in Isa 29:22, as being the more exquisite name, and the one which more immediately recalled their patriarchal ancestor. They fancied that Jehovah had completely turned away from them in wrath and weariness. “My way” refers to their thorny way of life; “my right” ( mishpâtı̄ ) to their good right, in opposition to their oppressors.

Of all this He appeared to take no notice at all. He seemed to have no thought of vindicating it judicially (on the double min, away from him, see Ges. §154, 3, c ).

Isa 40:28 The groundlessness of such despondency is set before them in a double question. “Is it not known to thee, or hast thou not heard, an eternal God is Jehovah, Creator of the ends of the earth: He fainteth not, neither becomes weary; His understanding is unsearchable. ” Those who are so desponding ought to know, if not from their own experience, at least from information that had been handed down, that Jehovah, who created the earth from one end to the other, so that even Babylonian was not beyond the range of His vision or the domain of His power, was an eternal God, i.

e. , a God eternally the same and never varying, who still possessed and manifested the power which He had displayed in the creation. Israel had already passed through a long history, and Jehovah had presided over this, and ruled within it; and He had not so lost His power in consequence, as to have now left His people to themselves. He does not grow faint, as a man would do, who neglected to take the repeated nourishment requisite to sustain the energy of his vital power; nor does He become weary, like a man who has exhausted his capacity for work by over-exertion.

And if He had not redeemed His people till then, His people were to know that His course was pure tebhūnâh or understanding, which was in the possession of infallible criteria for determining the right point of time at which to interpose with His aid.

Isa 40:29 Jehovah is so far from becoming faint, that it is He who gives strength to the fainting. “Giving power to the faint, and to the incapable He giveth strength in abundance.” אונים לאין is equivalent to אונים איןלאשׁר אין is used exactly like a privative to form a negative adjective (e.g., Psa 88:5; Pro 25:3).

Isa 40:30-31 Faith is all that is needed to ensure a participation in the strength (עצמה after the form חכמה), which He so richly bestows and so powerfully enhances. “And youths grow faint and weary, and young men suffer a fall. But they who wait for Jehovah gain fresh strength; lift up their wings like eagles; run, and are not weary; go forward, and do not faint.

” Even youths, even young men in the early bloom of their morning of life ( bachūrı̄m , youths, from בּחר, related to בּכר, בּגר), succumb to the effects of the loss of sustenance or over-exertion (both futures are defective, the first letter being dropped), and any outward obstacle is sufficient to cause them to fall (נכשׁל with inf. abs. kal , which retains what has been stated for contemplation, according to Ges.

§131, 3, Anm. 2). In Isa 40:30 the verb stands first, Isa 40:30 being like a concessive clause in relation to Isa 40:31. “Even though this may happen, it is different with those who wait for Jehovah,” i. e. , those who believe in Him; for the Old Testament applies to faith a number of synonyms denoting trust, hope, and longing, and thus describes it according to its inmost nature, as fiducia and as hope, directed to the manifestation and completion of that which is hoped for.

The Vav cop. introduces the antithesis, as in Isa 40:8. החליף, to cause one to pursue, or new to take the place of the old (Lat. recentare ). The expression וגו יעלוּ is supposed by early translators, after the Sept. , Targ. Jer. , and Saad. , to refer to the moulting of the eagle and the growth of the new feathers, which we meet with in Psa 103:5 (cf. , Mic 1:16) as a figurative representation of the renewal of youth through grace.

But Hitzig correctly observes that העלה is never met with as the causative of the kal used in Isa 5:6, and moreover that it would require נוצה instead of אבר. The proper rendering therefore is, “they cause their wings to rise, or lift their wings high, like the eagles” ( 'ēbher as in Psa 55:7). Their course of life, which has Jehovah for its object, is as it were possessed of wings.

They draw from Him strength upon strength (see Psa 84:8); running does not tire them, nor do they become faint from going ever further and further. The first address, consisting of three parts (Isa 40:1-11, Isa 40:12-26, Isa 40:27-31), is here brought to a close. Second Prophecy - Isaiah 41 Jehovah comes forward here, and speaking in the tone in which He already began to speak in Isa 40:25, invites the idolatrous nations to contend with Him, declares the raising up of the conqueror from the east to be His work, and adduces this as the sign that He has been the Author and Guider of the world’s history from the beginning.

But what if the question should be asked on the part of the nations, With what right does He do this? The acts of the conqueror prove themselves to be a work of the God who is exalted above the idols, from the fact that they bring destruction to the idolatrous nations, and to the people of Jehovah the long-desired redemption. It is in this that the conclusiveness of the illustration lies.

The argument, however, presupposes that Cyrus has already entered upon his victorious course. It is evident at the outset that future events, or events still unfulfilled, would have no force as present proofs. And the words also clearly imply, that the work which Jehovah attributes to Himself, in opposition to the gods of the nations, is already in progress.

Isa 40:30-31 Faith is all that is needed to ensure a participation in the strength (עצמה after the form חכמה), which He so richly bestows and so powerfully enhances. “And youths grow faint and weary, and young men suffer a fall. But they who wait for Jehovah gain fresh strength; lift up their wings like eagles; run, and are not weary; go forward, and do not faint.

” Even youths, even young men in the early bloom of their morning of life ( bachūrı̄m , youths, from בּחר, related to בּכר, בּגר), succumb to the effects of the loss of sustenance or over-exertion (both futures are defective, the first letter being dropped), and any outward obstacle is sufficient to cause them to fall (נכשׁל with inf. abs. kal , which retains what has been stated for contemplation, according to Ges.

§131, 3, Anm. 2). In Isa 40:30 the verb stands first, Isa 40:30 being like a concessive clause in relation to Isa 40:31. “Even though this may happen, it is different with those who wait for Jehovah,” i. e. , those who believe in Him; for the Old Testament applies to faith a number of synonyms denoting trust, hope, and longing, and thus describes it according to its inmost nature, as fiducia and as hope, directed to the manifestation and completion of that which is hoped for.

The Vav cop. introduces the antithesis, as in Isa 40:8. החליף, to cause one to pursue, or new to take the place of the old (Lat. recentare ). The expression וגו יעלוּ is supposed by early translators, after the Sept. , Targ. Jer. , and Saad. , to refer to the moulting of the eagle and the growth of the new feathers, which we meet with in Psa 103:5 (cf. , Mic 1:16) as a figurative representation of the renewal of youth through grace.

But Hitzig correctly observes that העלה is never met with as the causative of the kal used in Isa 5:6, and moreover that it would require נוצה instead of אבר. The proper rendering therefore is, “they cause their wings to rise, or lift their wings high, like the eagles” ( 'ēbher as in Psa 55:7). Their course of life, which has Jehovah for its object, is as it were possessed of wings.

They draw from Him strength upon strength (see Psa 84:8); running does not tire them, nor do they become faint from going ever further and further. The first address, consisting of three parts (Isa 40:1-11, Isa 40:12-26, Isa 40:27-31), is here brought to a close. Second Prophecy - Isaiah 41 Jehovah comes forward here, and speaking in the tone in which He already began to speak in Isa 40:25, invites the idolatrous nations to contend with Him, declares the raising up of the conqueror from the east to be His work, and adduces this as the sign that He has been the Author and Guider of the world’s history from the beginning.

But what if the question should be asked on the part of the nations, With what right does He do this? The acts of the conqueror prove themselves to be a work of the God who is exalted above the idols, from the fact that they bring destruction to the idolatrous nations, and to the people of Jehovah the long-desired redemption. It is in this that the conclusiveness of the illustration lies.

The argument, however, presupposes that Cyrus has already entered upon his victorious course. It is evident at the outset that future events, or events still unfulfilled, would have no force as present proofs. And the words also clearly imply, that the work which Jehovah attributes to Himself, in opposition to the gods of the nations, is already in progress.

Isa 41:1 Summons to the contest: “Be silent to me, ye islands; and let the nations procure fresh strength: let them come near, then speak; we will enter into contest together. ” The words are addressed to the whole of the heathen world, and first of all to the inhabitants of the western islands and coasts. This was the expression commonly employed in the Old Testament to designate the continent of Europe, the solid ground of which is so deeply cut, and so broken up, by seas and lakes, that it looks as if it were about to resolve itself into nothing but islands and peninsulas.

על החרישׁ is a pregnant expression for turning in silence towards a person; just as in Job 13:13 it is used with min , in the sense of forsaking a person in silence. That they may have no excuse if they are defeated, they are to put on fresh strength; just as in Isa 40:31 believers are spoken of as drawing fresh strength out of Jehovah’s fulness. They are to draw near, then speak, i.

e. , to reply after hearing the evidence, for Jehovah desires to go through all the forms of a legal process with them in pro et contra . The mishpât is thought of here in a local sense, as a forum or tribunal. But if Jehovah is one party to the cause, who is the judge to pronounce the decision? The answer to this question is the same as at Isa 5:3. “The nations,” says Rosenmüller, “are called to judgment, not to the tribunal of God, but to that of reason.

” The deciding authority is reason, which cannot fail to recognise the facts, and the consequences to be deduced from them.

Isa 41:2 The parties invited are now to be thought of as present, and Jehovah commences in Isa 41:2 : “Who hath raised up the man from the rising of the sun, whom justice meets at his foot, He giveth up nations before him, and kings He subdues, giveth men like the dust to his sword, and like driven stubble to his bow? ” The sentence governed by “who” ( mı̄ ) ends at leraglō (at his foot); at the same time, all that follows is spoken with the echo of the interrogative accent.

The person raised up is Cyrus, who is afterwards mentioned by name. The coming one (if, that is to say, we adhere to the belief in Isaiah’s authorship of these addresses) first approaches gradually within the horizon of the prophet’s ideal present; and it is only little by little that the prophet becomes more intimately acquainted with a phenomenon which belongs to so distant a future, and has been brought so close to his own eyes.

Jehovah has raised up the new great hero “from the east” ( mimmizrâch ), and, according to Isa 41:25, “from the north” also. Both of these were fulfilled; for Cyrus was a Persian belonging to the clan of Achaemenes ( Hakhâmanis ), which stood at the head of the tribe, or of the Pasargadae. He was the son of Cambyses; and even if the Median princess Mandane were not his mother, yet, according to nearly all the ancient accounts, he was connected with the royal house of Media; at any rate, after Astyages was dethroned, he became head and chief of the Medes as well as of the Persians (hence the name of “Mule” which was give to him by the oracle, and that given by Jerome, “ agitator bigae ”).

Now Media was to the north of Babylonia, and Persia to the east; so that his victorious march, in which, even before the conquest of Babylon, he subjugated all the lands from the heights of Hinduku to the shores of the Aegean Sea, had for its starting-point both the east and north. The clause לרגלו יקראהוּ צדק is an attributive clause, and as such a virtual object: “him whom (supply עת־אשׁר) justice comes to meet (קרא) = קרה, Ges.

§75, vi.) on his track” (cf. , Gen 30:30; Job 18:11; Hab 3:5). The idea of tsedeq is determined by what follows: Jehovah gives up nations before him, and causes kings to be trodden down (causative of râdâh ). Accordingly, tsedeq is either to be understood here in an attributive sense, as denoting the justice exercised by a person (viz. , the justice executed successfully by Cyrus, as the instrument of Jehovah, by the force of arms); or objectively of the justice awarded to a person (to which the idea of “meeting” is more appropriate), viz.

, the favourable result, the victory which procures justice for the just cause of the combatant. Rosenmüller, Knobel, and others, are wrong in maintaining that tsedeq ( tsedâqâh ) in chapters 40-66 signifies primarily justice, and the prosperity and salvation as its reward. The word means straightness, justice, righteousness, and nothing more (from tsâdaq , to be hard, firm, extended, straight, e.

g. , rumh - un - tsadq , a hard, firm, and straight lance); but it has a double aspect, because justice consists, according to circumstances, of either wrath of favour, and therefore has sometimes the idea of the strict execution of justice, as in this instance, sometimes of a manifestation of justice in fidelity to promises, as in Isa 41:10. יתּן is repeated here in Isa 41:2 (just like וילמדהו in Isa 40:14) with the same subject, but in a different sense.

To make sword and bow the subject, in the sense of “his sword gives (sc. , 'the foe'),” is a doubtful thing in itself; and as cherebh and qesheth are feminines, it is by no means advisable. Moreover, in other instances, the comparative כ leaves it to the reader to carry out the figure indicated according to his own fancy. And this is the case here: He (Jehovah) makes his sword as if there were dust, his bow as if there were hunted stubble (Böttcher), i.

e. , pounding the enemy like dust, and hunting it like flying stubble. Our text has כּעפר, but in certain codices we find כּעפר with tzere ; and this reading, which is contrary to rule, has in its favour the express testimony of Moses the punctuator.

Isa 41:3 The conqueror is now still further described in futures, which might be defined by העיר, and so express a simultaneous past (synchronistic imperfects), but which it is safer to take as standing traits in the picture drawn of the conqueror referred to. “He pursueth them and marcheth in peace by a course which he never trod with his feet. ” He marches victoriously further and further, shâlōm ,” i.

e. , “in safety” (or, as an adjective, safely; Job 21:9), without any one being able to do him harm, by a course (accus. Ges. §138, 1) which he has not been accustomed to tread with his feet ( ingredi ).

Isa 41:4 The great fact of the present time, which not one of the gods of the heathen can boast of having brought to pass, is now explained. Jehovah is its author. “Who hath wrought and executed it? He who calleth the generations of men from the beginning, I Jehovah am first, and with the last am I He. ” The synonyms פּעל and עשׂה are distinguished from each other in the same way as “to work” (or bring about) and “to realize” (or carry out).

Hence the meaning is, Who is the author to whom both the origin and progress of such an occurrence are to be referred? It is He who “from the beginning,” i. e. , ever since there has been a human history, has called into existence the generations of men through His authoritative command. And this is no other than Jehovah, who can declare of Himself, in contrast with the heathen and their gods, who are of yesterday, and tomorrow will not be: I am Jehovah, the very first, whose being precedes all history; and with the men of the latest generations yet to come “I am it.

” הוּא is not introduced here to strengthen the subject, ego ille “I and no other,” as in Isa 37:16, which see); but, as in Isa 43:10, Isa 43:13; Isa 56:4; Isa 48:12, it is a predicate of the substantive clause, ego sum is ( ille ), viz. , 'Elōhı̄m ; or even as in Psa 102:28 (cf. , Job 3:19 and Heb 13:8), ego sum idem (Hitzig). They are both included, without any distinction in the assertion.

He is this, viz. , God throughout all ages, and is through all ages He, i. e. , the Being who is ever the same in this His deity. It is the full meaning of the name Jehovah which is unfolded here; for God is called Jehovah as the absolute I, the absolutely free Being, pervading all history, and yet above all history, as He who is Lord of His own absolute being, in revealing which He is purely self-determined; in a word, as the unconditionally free and unchangeably eternal personality.