Isaiah 40: Comfort Ye My People
A voice in the wilderness, all flesh is grass, the shepherd, and the God who does not grow weary
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (40:1–2).
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low… And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together" (vv. 3–5).
"The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth… but the word of our God shall stand for ever" (vv. 6–8). "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom" (v. 11).
"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?… But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (vv. 28–31).
| Verses | What it says | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 40:1–2 | Comfort my people; speak to Jerusalem's heart: her hard service is over, her guilt paid, double for her sins | Plural commands: to whom? (heavenly council, prophets; the Greek adds "priests"). |
| 40:3–5 | A voice cries: in the wilderness prepare the LORD's way; valleys raised, mountains lowered; the glory revealed to all flesh | A road for God's return with his people. |
| 40:6–8 | A voice says "Cry!"; "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass; the grass withers; the word of our God stands forever | The Great Isaiah Scroll: "and I said." Quoted in 1 Peter 1:24–25. |
| 40:9–11 | Zion, herald of good news, climb a mountain: Behold your God! He comes with might; he shepherds his flock | Mevasseret, "bearer of good news" (Greek euangelizomenos). |
| 40:12–17 | Who measured the waters, the heavens, the dust, the mountains? Who counseled him? Nations are a drop from a bucket, dust on scales | Quoted in Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16 (v. 13). |
| 40:18–20 | To whom will you compare God? A craftsman casts an idol, plates it with gold; the poor choose wood that won't rot so it won't topple | The first idol satire of 40–48. |
| 40:21–26 | He sits above the circle of the earth; people like grasshoppers; heavens a curtain; rulers wither; he calls the stars by name | See below on "the circle of the earth." |
| 40:27–31 | Why say my way is hidden from God? He does not tire; he strengthens the weary; those who wait for the LORD mount up with wings like eagles | Wait (qavah): hope, expect. |
Roads for gods and kings
Babylon's Processional Way, lined with glazed-brick lions, carried the statues of Marduk and other gods during the New Year festival; Assyrian and Babylonian kings boasted of cutting roads through mountains for their armies. Isaiah 40 borrows the picture: a royal road through the desert for Israel's God returning to Zion with his people. It is poetry; no constructed road from Babylon to Judah is meant, and the site's atlas does not draw one. The route from Babylon to Jerusalem ran up the Euphrates and through Syria, about 1,400 km.
"The circle of the earth" (40:22)
Chug ha-arets means the "circle" or "vault" of the earth: the horizon or the dome of the sky seen from the earth (compare Job 22:14; Proverbs 8:27, "when he set a compass [chug] upon the face of the depth"). The popular claim that the verse teaches a spherical earth reads a modern idea into it; Hebrew had other words for a ball (Isaiah 22:18, dur). The point of the verse is God's height above all human power, not the shape of the planet.
"A voice crying in the wilderness"
The Hebrew accents divide the line: "A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD." The Greek translation reads "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord," placing the voice in the wilderness. All four Gospels apply the verse to John the Baptist in that Greek form: Mark 1:3 (joined with Malachi 3:1 and Exodus 23:20 under Isaiah's name), Matthew 3:3, Luke 3:4–6 (which continues to v. 5, "all flesh shall see the salvation of God"), and John 1:23 (where John says it of himself). The Qumran Community Rule (1QS 8:13–16) applies 40:3 to the community's withdrawal into the desert to study the law: "this is the study of the Torah." Two Jewish movements read the same verse of themselves.
"And I said" (40:6) and a scribe's repair (40:7–8)
The Masoretic Text reads "and he said, What shall I cry?"; the Great Isaiah Scroll and the Greek read "and I said" (described from a transcription), making the prophet himself the speaker: one of the few moments in 40–55 where a prophetic "I" appears. In the scroll, the first scribe's eye jumped from the first "the grass withers, the flower fades" (v. 7) to the second (v. 8); a later hand wrote the missing words between the lines and in the margin, writing the divine name as a row of dots. See the passage page.
Comfort and the Christian year
Handel's Messiah (1741) opens with 40:1–5 ("Comfort ye," "Every valley") and sets 40:9 and 40:11. In Jewish practice, 40:1–26 is the haftarah for the Sabbath after the Ninth of Av, Shabbat Nachamu ("Sabbath of Comfort"), named from its first word.
What the evidence shows
- All four Gospels apply Isaiah 40:3 to John the Baptist.
- The Qumran Community Rule applies Isaiah 40:3 to the community's study of the law. 1QS 8:13–16; reported.
- The Great Isaiah Scroll reads "and I said" in 40:6. Described from a transcription; agrees with the Greek.
- Isaiah 40:22 teaches that the earth is a sphere. Chug means circle or vault; the verse is about God's transcendence.
- Isaiah 40 begins a section written in the 6th century BC. See "One Isaiah or Several?"
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageIsaiah 40:3–5: "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness""The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The Hebrew accents read "A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way"; the Greek and the Vulgate put the voice in the wilderness.More from this lesson
Echoes Across Civilizations
Optional: how other ancient peoples told similar stories. Open one to compare, then come back to the lesson.
CreationBabylon · Egypt · India · K'iche' Maya
How did other ancient peoples tell the beginning of the world?
- Babylon: Enuma Elish Shared literary world
- Egypt: The Memphite Theology (Shabaka Stone) Resemblance only
- India: Rig Veda 10.129, the Hymn of Creation (Nāsadīya Sūkta) Resemblance only
- K'iche' Maya: Popol Vuh Resemblance only
The heavenly council and the nationsUgarit · Mesopotamia · Second Temple Judaism
Did other ancient peoples picture a high god ruling a council of divine beings who were assigned to the nations?
- Ugarit: El and "the sons of El" (bn ilm) Possible historical contact
- Mesopotamia: The assembly of the gods (Enuma Elish, Atrahasis) Resemblance only
- Second Temple Judaism: Angels over the nations (Daniel, Jubilees, 1 Enoch) Shared literary world
Making and animating godsBabylonian and Assyrian · Egyptian · Babylonian · Assyrian
How were cult statues made and brought to life in the ancient Near East, and how do the prophets' satires of idol-making compare?
- Babylonian and Assyrian: Mouth-washing and mouth-opening ritual (mis pi / pit pi) Possible historical contact
- Egyptian: Opening of the Mouth ritual Resemblance only
- Babylonian: The New Year (akitu) festival and the journeys of Marduk and Nabu Possible historical contact
- Assyrian: Esarhaddon's renewal of the gods of Babylon Possible historical contact
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Mark 1:1–4; Matthew 3:3; Luke 3:4–6; John 1:23The voice in the wilderness.
- "All flesh is as grass."
- Isaiah 35:8–10; 52:7–10The highway; the herald on the mountains.
- Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34; John 10God the shepherd.