40:1–2 The opening words set the tone not just for chapter 40 but for the rest of the book. The text takes a warm and affectionate tenor as a destiny of salvation is announced, including the forgiveness of past sins. “Comfort, comfort,” used here in the old sense of “make strong,” are plural imperatives addressed to the three messengers (vv. 3, 6, 9), who are probably to be understood as members of the heavenly court. “Says” is imperfect, suggesting God’s habitual speech. “Speak tenderly” could be rendered “speak to the heart” and is the language of covenant love from the covenant Lord who has graciously forgiven. There is no evidence of a Babylonian setting here; as in earlier chapters, the prophet is addressing Jerusalem and speaking of the exile as “warfare” or hard labor. Like the prophet himself, the nation has been pardoned for iniquity and sins (cf. comment on 6:6–7). “Double for all her sins” does not suggest double punishment; the Hebrew word kiplayim, a dual form from kepel, suggests a sheet folded over so that the two halves exactly correspond. Yahweh can speak this way because he is Lord of history (a theme to be developed in 41:21–24).

40:3 The first voice (vv. 3–5) echoes the voices of the seraphim proclaiming God’s glory (6:3), recalling ancient pictures of Yahweh as coming to his people’s help (Deut. 33:2; Judg. 5:4). God coming to help his people in the desert is a traditional exodus motif, found also in other passages of Scripture such as Habakkuk 3.

40:4 No geographical obstacles will prevent or hinder his coming, as the Lord speedily overturns all barriers, with the mountains becoming plains and rough places becoming smooth.

40:5 The result of God’s coming will be the revelation of his glory, visible to all. The events already referenced, as well as further times of revival throughout history, have offered glimpses of this, but the ultimate fulfillment is described in Revelation 21–22. “Glory” is a frequent term in Isaiah (forty-seven times, with five of these in chapter 66). Such glory is expressed fully in Christ (John 1:1–14); humans can share in this glory only as God chooses to share it (John 17:22–24). This transformation will take place, “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” This exact phrase occurs first at Isaiah 1:20, where it speaks of the certainty of judgment following rebellion, but here and at 58:14 it speaks of blessing resulting from obedience.

40:6 Once again a voice calls and commands another to cry out. Neither voice is identified, which highlights the message rather than the messengers. The messengers may pass on, but the message remains, for it is the eternal Word of God. Grass is a symbol of transience (cf. Ps. 90:5–6).

40:7 The mighty empires of Assyria and Babylon might look impressive, but they will wither and fade and pass away. This is not just because of the intrinsic temporariness of humanity but because the “breath” (or “Spirit”) of the Lord of history will blow on them. This transience is also the mark of the Lord’s people (“people” in the last phrase of v. 7 almost certainly denotes Jacob/Israel; cf. Isa. 40:27). The Spirit makes real the personal presence of the Lord everywhere in time and space (Ps. 139:7).

40:8 Security lies outside ourselves, in the permanence of God and his Word. This truth is to be developed more fully at the end of this section (Isa. 55:10–11), and it is the unchanging reality among the rise and fall of nations then and now. The Spirit who spoke words of judgment to the disobedient is the one who speaks the eternal word of hope to believers.

40:9 The third voice declares that this is a message to be proclaimed. This is good news, and Yahweh calls on Jerusalem to tell the world that God is coming. Zion, denoting the people of God, is commissioned to share that message. This anticipates the words of the risen Lord in Acts 1:8 that the good news is not just for Jerusalem but for the whole world. The “high mountain” is chosen so that all may see and hear. This message requires confidence (“fear not”) and points to the Lord’s coming in power and compassion. “Behold your God” echoes the Immanuel prophecy and is full of promise for the future.

40:10 The “arm” of the Lord is a metaphor not only for his power but also for his close personal involvement; the image will recur frequently in the rest of the book (e.g., 48:14; 51:5; 53:1). God is on the march, as in the exodus. “Reward” and “recompense” are basically synonyms and suggest that Yahweh’s redeemed people are the fruits of his victory (cf. 53:12).

40:11 Yahweh is Israel’s shepherd as well as sovereign; although in the ancient world kings often described themselves in similar terms, these were usually words of empty self-adulation. Here, however, the emphasis is on care of the flock, particularly the vulnerable—the young and the pregnant. The arm of the Lord, which has destroyed his enemies, is now employed to protect and to cherish. This anticipates the closing verses of the chapter.

40:12 In a series of rhetorical questions Isaiah sets out the case for the supreme greatness of Yahweh, not as one god in a pantheon—not even the supreme one—but as the sole Creator and Lord of the universe. The total nature of his lordship is expressed by ways of opposites. From the depths of the sea to the vault of heaven, he is sovereign; everything from the dust to the great mountains is his, for he made it. He knows its exact dimensions and weight, because all is a product of his master craftsmanship. He knows no limits.

40:13–14 The prophet has shown Yahweh’s mastery of the created order and our inability to understand it. How, then, can we understand God himself? Paul echoes these words in Romans 11:34 and probably has them in mind in 1 Corinthians 2:16. How can any human understand the Spirit, who was active in creation (Gen. 1:2)? In Babylonian mythology Marduk had to consult Ea, the all-wise, and the rest of the pantheon. The “sons of God” were filled with praise at the creation of the earth (Job 38:7), but they were not co-creators. The “path of justice” must include salvation as well as the created order, as in Romans 11:34. The Hebrew term mishpat includes the idea of civil and social justice, which will flourish perfectly in the world to come and for which we pray in this world. The ways of God are marked by wisdom and the ability to see right to the heart of every matter, as demonstrated in Proverbs.

40:15 From the cosmos Isaiah turns to the place of humanity in the created order. He is not addressing the specific situations of the nations in chapters 13–39 but rather humans generally and their relation to the power of the Creator. Humanity in its collective aspects cannot match the Creator. The nations, for all their boasted pomp and show, are like a drop of water in a bucket or dust on a scale. How can they stand before the one who holds all the waters of earth in his hand like a drop of water? Before the Lord, the nations and coastlands86 are like fine dust, which does not even cause a movement on his scales.

40:16 Not only is military power and prestige inadequate; human religion is as well. Even if the plateau of Lebanon formed an altar, with all its vast forests cut down to provide wood for sacrifice and its teeming wildlife slaughtered, it would not be an adequate sacrifice, for it would simply represent human effort. The only sacrifice worthy of Yahweh will be described in chapter 53.

40:17 This verse is not suggesting that humanity is worthless but rather is insisting that, without God, life has no meaning or purpose. The phrase “before him” means that in comparison with God the nations are indeed drops of water or dust. They only exist by him; without him they are of no significance. “Emptiness” is tohu (Gen. 1:2). The suggestion is that, just as the Spirit breathed life into the unformed earth and waters, so only by the Spirit can mankind live.

40:18 Faced with the reality of Isaiah 40:17, the answer to the challenge of this verse is that no one can rival or equal God. He is not like the pagan gods, who are not gods at all but human inventions (37:19). There are no human or material comparisons that could encompass him.

40:19–20 The true problem with idolatry and its fundamental foolishness is that an idol is not only less than God but even less than the human who makes it. God’s image, after all, is already in the world, even after the fall (cf. Gen. 9:6; James 3:9). The word order here reinforces the contempt Isaiah has for idolatry: “idol,” the object of the sentence, comes first (“As for an idol . . . !”). The process of making the idol is described, but however attractive it may be as an artifact, adorned with gold and silver, it is a lifeless object. This is true even at the top of the scale, but the same process is followed for a wooden object. There is care lavished to make sure it is formed from valuable wood and carefully carved to ensure that, unlike the Philistine god Dagon, it does not topple from its perch (1 Sam. 5:2–5). There it stands secure in its lifelessness and uselessness. It may look impressive and evoke a sense of mystery, but it remains an objet dʾart and has no resources or power beyond the human craftsmanship that made it. Such is the foolishness of idolatry.

40:21 Once again a series of rhetorical questions insists on the priority and power of the creator God over and against human inventions. Have the people listened to their own Scriptures, which begin with the creation of heaven and earth and the absolute sovereignty of the one who made it all? The phrase “foundations of the earth” implies there was a time when the earth did not exist and that the living God was there before it (and before time itself), creating the worlds and working out his purposes. The verbs are significant: “know” has the nuance not merely of being aware of an idea but of making it one’s own; “hear” shows that there is no excuse for Judah not to know, because the truth has been proclaimed—a fact underlined by the addition of “told you.” “Understood” could be rendered “Been caused to discern,” implying that teachers have done their job well.

40:22–23 What they had been told is the absolute transcendence of the true God, who sits above the “circle of the earth,” which might be the “vault of heaven” (Job 22:14) or the horizon. From there, the whole universe is his tent and humans are like insects. This is no grandiose boast, for from his throne in heaven he rules the great ones of the earth (cf. Dan. 4:34–35). “Princes” (Hb. roznim) are those who hold power, while “rulers of the earth” are those who execute their decisions.

40:24 The language here recalls Isaiah 40:6–8 and emphasizes the transience of humanity. The repeated particle ʿap underlines individuals’ brief appearance on the human stage, which is terminated as the Lord blows them away. They are reduced to chaff and driven away to oblivion.

40:25–26 These verses echo the theme of verse 12 with another rhetorical question. Here God speaks to his people and keeps on speaking: “says” is a participle, suggesting continuous action. Earlier, God’s transcendence was shown by his power and wisdom (vv. 12–14), majesty (vv. 15–20), and sovereignty (vv. 21–23). Here it is related particularly to his holiness, which points back to the call of the prophet (6:3–8). This marks the Lord’s character, which he seeks to share with his people (4:3–4; 62:12). His power and authority will never be exercised in a brutal or arbitrary way; all his actions will be consistent with his moral perfection.

40:26 This creation poem ends with the starry heavens, so often associated with astral worship not only by Judah’s pagan neighbors but by the godless Manasseh (2 Kings 21:3). Yet the truly splendid panorama of the night sky is not self-existent or self-propagating, as shown by the use of the word “created” (Hb. baraʾ), used only of God. This echoes Genesis 1 and reminds us that everything seen and unseen comes from his hand. Thus, though to us the stars are countless, God knows each one and has given each its name; he is interested not only in totality but in individual detail.

40:27 The designation Jacob/Israel is almost a summary of the checkered history of the people. The shepherd theme of Isaiah 40:11 probably echoes Jacob’s words: “God . . . has been my shepherd all my life” (Gen. 48:15). There is more than a hint of the murmuring and complaining that so often characterized God’s people (cf. esp. Ps. 95:7–9). “Say” and “speak” are imperfect tense, suggesting a habitual attitude. The use of the word “way” (Hb. derek) is significant, particularly recalling Isaiah 35:8, where the term is used of the highway to Zion along which the rejoicing pilgrims would travel. Far from ignoring them, the Lord forgives their sinful ways and leads them in the way of righteousness. “My right” is mishpati, here used of God’s just and fair ordering of the universe; to doubt this is to doubt God himself.

40:28 A solution to their problem is at hand in the truth they already possess (Deut. 30:11–14). The verbs “know” and “heard,” used already in Isaiah 40:21, refer to the truth that has come to them, first taught by Moses and then by others called (as was Isaiah) to pass on that message. Their God is eternal. And as Creator he is not part of the universe; he made it and sees to its furthest reaches. Creation itself wears out and is exhausted, but not the Creator (Ps. 102:25–28). We cannot know all there is to know about him, but he chooses to reveal himself (cf. comments on 55:6–11). Thus we must not limit him to our own small vision or time-conditioned horizons.

40:29 What is even more amazing is that this creator God of power and wisdom is willing to share his strength. “He gives power” is a participle, suggesting habitual action. Thus those bowed down under life’s pressures, with their energy draining away, can trust him.

40:30–31 What has been true of the history of Jacob/Israel is true also in everyday life. This is not the natural strength exhibited by the young and fit, who in the end become worn down nonetheless. “Youths” are young people at the stage of life at which nothing seems impossible; “young men” refers to fit and athletic types, the kind of people who nowadays run marathons and engage in vigorous sports. Even they do not have limitless energy but may collapse exhausted after intense activity.

How, then, can we keep going if natural strength gives out? There is a way to persevere, and it comes through waiting for the Lord. To “wait” (Hb. qavah) is not to sit around hoping something will turn up but rather to hold an attitude of confident expectation. It is to cease from frantic efforts at working out one’s own salvation and instead to look in faith to the Lord. This will result in flying like an eagle, running amid the business of life and walking without giving up. It may be that this refers to different stages of life: soaring in youth as life opens up so many possibilities, then running through middle age as responsibilities and problems need sustained focus, and finally in old age continuing to walk the path, finding the strength in God to do so. This is reassurance indeed.