Isaiah 40:1–5: Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:1–20; John 1:19–28[3]
Isaiah 40:6–8: 1 Peter 1:22–25[3]
Isaiah 40:9–31: Romans 11:33–36[3]
Parashot
The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex.[4] Isaiah 40 is a part of the Consolations (Isaiah 40–66). {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.
and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:[16]
"All flesh is grass" (Hebrew: כל־הבשר חצירkāl-ha-bā-shārkhā-tsîr[17] compare to Isaiah 37:27 and see also Job 5:25; Psalm 90:5; Psalm 92:7; Psalm 103:15.[18] is answering the question, "What shall I cry?" (also see Job 8:12; Job 14:2; Psalm 37:2).[19]
"Spirit of the Lord": can also rendered as "wind of Jehovah" (Psalm 103:16) or may refer to the "withering east wind of those countries sent by Jehovah" (Jonah 4:8).[22]
Westermann notes the similarity of parts of this verse to other Bible verses: verse 22a vs. Job 34:13b and verse 22b vs. Psalm 104:2b.[26] This verse contains several rare words – such as דֹּק֙, doq ("curtain"), and מָתַח, mathach ("spread, stretch"), which are only found here, as well as ח֣וּג, chug ("circle"), which are only found in a few other verses (Proverbs 8:27; Job 22:14; Job 26:10) – suggesting "well-defined, distinctive traditions."[26]
"Circle" (of the earth): is translated from the Hebrew word חוּג, chug, which also denotes "horizon, circuit, vault of the heavens";[27][28] while the Gesenius Lexicon also adds "sphere".[a] It can refer to
the full circuit – the seen and unseen halves – of the stars across the dome of the sky, or
the vault of heaven (Job 22:14) extending "in a half-circle from horizon to horizon", or
a circular observable horizon (cf. Proverbs 8:27; Job 26:10)
It is to emphasize the range of God’s authority "over everything the eye can see in every direction, even to the distant ends of the earth,"[30][31] but not necessarily refer to the "circular nature of the earth."[31]
Rashi mentions an expression with the same root in Isaiah 44:13 "and with a compass (וּבַמְּחוּגָה)" to view this word as a "circle" (as made by a compass).[32] A newer edition of the Douay–Rheims Bible renders it as "globe"[33] – and so does the Spanish version of the Jubilee Bible (el globo,[34] although the English version renders as "circle"[35]) – but an older edition of the Douay-Reims renders it as "compasse" (original spelling in 1582 CE).[36]
Uses
Modern literature
A part of the Hebrew text of Isaiah 40:4 was used by Shmuel Yosef Agnon as the title for his 1912-novella, "Vehaya Ha'akov Lemishor" ("The Crooked Shall Be Made Straight").[37]
^ a bEllicott, C. J. (Ed.) (1905). Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers. Isaiah 40. London : Cassell and Company, Limited, [1905-1906] Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019.
^Isaiah 40:5 KJV
^Isaiah 40:6 KJV
^Hebrew Text Analysis: Isaiah 40:6. Biblehub
^Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Isaiah 40". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
^Yeshayahu - Isaiah - Chapter 40. The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary. Chabad.org. Accessed on February 28, 2019.
^Isaiah 40:22 Douay-Rheims
^Isaiah 40:22 JBS
^Isaiah 40:22 JUB
^Isaiah 40:22 in the 1582 Douay-Rheims Old Testament
^Aschkenasy, Nehama (1983). "Biblical Substructures in the Tragic Form Hardy, "The Mayor of Casterbridge" Agnon, "And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight"". Modern Language Studies. 13 (1): 105. doi:10.2307/3194323. JSTOR 3194323.
^Block, Daniel I. (2001). "Handel's Messiah: Biblical and Theological Perspectives" (PDF). Didaskalia. 12 (2). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
Sources
Brown, Francis; Briggs, Charles A.; Driver, S. R. (1994). The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (reprint ed.). Hendrickson Publishers. ISBN 978-1565632066.
Gesenius, H. W. F. (1979). Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures: Numerically Coded to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, with an English Index. Translated by Tregelles, Samuel Prideaux (7th ed.). Baker Book House.
Oswalt, John (1998). The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66. (Volume 2 of The Book of Isaiah). New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Vol. 23. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802825346. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
Smith, Gary V. (2009). Isaiah 40-66. New American commentary. Vol. 15. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 9780805401448. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
Westermann, Claus (1969). Isaiah 40-66. Old Testament Library. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664226459. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
External links
Jewish
Isaiah 40: Hebrew with Parallel English
Christian
Isaiah 40 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate