Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 40

Comfort you, comfort you my people - This is the introduction, or the general subject of this and the following chapters. The beginning is abrupt, as often happens in Isaiah and the other prophets. The scene where this vision is set is in Babylon; the time near the close of the captivity. The topic, or main subject of the consolation, is stated in the following verse - that their captivity was about to end, and that brighter and happier days were to succeed their calamities and their exile.

The exhortation to ‘comfort’ the people is to be understood as a command of God to those in Babylon whose office or duty it would be to address them - that is, to the ministers of religion, or to the prophets. The Targum of Jonathan thus renders it: ‘You prophets, prophesy consolations concerning my people.’ The Septuagint renders it: ‘Comfort you, comfort you my people, says God. O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her.’ The design of Isaiah is doubtless to furnish that which should be to them a source of consolation when amid the deep distress of their long captivity; to furnish an assurance that the captivity was about to end, and that brighter and happier times were to follow.

The exhortation or command is repeated to give intensity or emphasis to it, in the usual manner in Hebrew, where emphasis is denoted by the repetition of a word. The word rendered ‘comfort’ (from נחם nâcham) properly means to draw the breath forcibly, to sigh, pant, groan; then to lament, or grieve (Psalms 90:13; Jeremiah 15:6); then to comfort or console oneself (Genesis 38:12).

Then it means to take vengeance (Compare the note at Isaiah 1:24). All the forms of the word, and all its significations, indicate deep emotion and the obtaining of relief either by repenting, by taking vengeance, or by administering the proper topics of consolation. Here the topic of consolation is that their calamities were about to come to an end, in accordance with the unchanging promises of a faithful God (Isaiah 40:8), and is thus in accordance with what is said in Hebrews 6:17-18.

My people - The people of God. He regarded those in Babylon as his people; and he designed also to present such topics of consolation as would be adapted to comfort all his people in all ages.

Says your God - The God of those whom he addressed - the God of the prophets or ministers of religion whose office was to comfort the people. We may remark here, that it is an important part of the ministerial office to administer consolation to the people of God in affliction; to exhibit to them his promises; to urge the topics of religion that are adapted to sustain them; and especially to uphold and cheer them with the assurance that their trials will soon come to an end, and will all terminate in complete deliverance from sorrow and calamity in heaven.

Speak you comfortably - Hebrew, על־לב (‛al-lēb), as in the margin, ‘To the heart.’ The heart is the seat of the affections. It is there that sorrow and joy are felt. We are oppressed there with grief, and we speak familiarly of being pained at the heart and of being of a glad or merry heart. To speak ‘to the heart’ is to speak in such a way as to remove the troubles of the heart; to provide consolation and joy. It means that they were not merely to urge such topics as should convince the understanding, but also such as should be adapted to minister consolation to the heart.

So the word is used in Genesis 34:3: And his soul clung to Dinah... and he loved the damsel, and spoke kindly (Hebrew, to the heart) of the damsel;Genesis 50:21: And he comforted them, and spoke kindly to them (Hebrew, to their hearts); see also 2 Chronicles 32:6.

To Jerusalem - The direction is not merely to speak to the people in Babylon, but also to comfort Jerusalem itself, lying in ruins. The general direction is, therefore, that the entire series of topics of consolation should be adduced—the people were to return from their bondage, Jerusalem was to be rebuilt, and the worship of God was to be restored.

And cry to her - In the manner of a crier, or one making public and loud proclamation (compare to Isaiah 40:3 and Isaiah 40:9). Jerusalem is here personified. She is addressed as in ruins, as about to be rebuilt, and as capable of consolation from this promise.

That her warfare is accomplished - Septuagint, ‘That her humiliation (ταπείνωσις, tapeinōsis) is accomplished.’ The Hebrew word (צבא, tsâbâ' — ‘warfare’) properly means an army or host (compare the note at Isaiah 1:9) and is usually applied to an army going forth to war, or marshalled for battle (2 Samuel 8:16; 2 Samuel 10:7). It is then used to denote an appointed time of service, the discharge of a duty similar to an enlistment, and is applied to the services of the Levites in the tabernacle (Numbers 4:28): All that enter in to perform the service (Hebrew, to war the warfare), to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. . Hence, it is applied to human life contemplated as a warfare or enlistment, involving hard service and calamity—an enlistment from which there is to be a discharge by death.

Is there not a set time (Hebrew, a warfare) to man upon earth?
Are not his days as the days of an hireling? (Job 7:1)

But if a man die—shall he indeed live again?
All the days of my appointed time (Hebrew, my warfare) will I wait,
Till my change come. (Job 14:14)

Compare Daniel 10:1. The word then means hard service, such as soldiers endure; an appointed time which they are to serve; an enlistment involving hardships, toil, privation, danger, and calamity.

In this sense, it is applied here to Jerusalem—to the trials, calamities, and desolations to which she was subjected for her sins. These were to endure a definite and fixed time, like the enlistment of an army. That time was now coming to an end and was to be succeeded by a release or discharge.

Vitringa, who supposes that this refers primarily and solely to the times of the Messiah, regards this as meaning that the definite time of the legal economy—a time of toil and of vexatious and troublesome ceremonies—was about to end by the coming of the Messiah.

But the more correct interpretation is probably that which supposes that there was a primary reference to the long and painful captivity of the Jews in Babylon.

That her iniquity - The iniquity or sin here referred to is that long series of acts of rebellion, corruption, and idolatry with which the Jewish people had been chargeable, and which had rendered their captivity necessary. As a nation, that sin was now expiated or removed by their protracted punishment in Babylon. It was a sufficient expression of the divine displeasure at the national offenses, and God was satisfied (נרצה, nîr^etsâh) with it and could consistently restore them to their land and to their former privileges. The whole language here relates to national, and not to individual, offenses.

Is pardoned - Vulgate, Dimissa est iniquitas illius. Septuagint, Λέλυται αὐτῆς ἡ ἁμαρτία (Lelutai autēs hē hamartia) - ‘Her sin is loosed,’ dissolved, remitted. The word ‘pardon’ does not quite express the meaning of the word in the original (נרצה, nîr^etsâh).

The word רצה (râtsâh) properly means to delight in any person or thing, to take pleasure in; then to receive graciously or favorably, to delight in sacrifices and offerings (Job 33:26; Psalms 51:18; Ezekiel 20:40). In the Hiphil conjugation, it means to satisfy or pay off, that is, to cause to be satisfied or pleased. Then, in Hophal, it means to be satisfied, to be paid off, or to be pleased or satisfied with an expiation or an atonement for sins, so as to delight in the person who makes it.

Here it means not strictly to pardon, but that they had endured the national punishment which God saw to be necessary. They had served out the long and painful enlistment which He had appointed, and now He was satisfied and took delight in restoring them to their own land.

It does not refer to the pardon of people in consequence of the atonement made by the Lord Jesus; but it may be used as an illustration of that, when God is satisfied with that atonement, and when He has pleasure or delight in setting the soul free from the bondage of sin and admitting the sinner to His favor—as He had delight here in restoring His people to their own land.

For she has received - Jerusalem had now been desolate for almost seventy years, on the supposition that this relates to the period near the close of the exile, and that was regarded as an ample or full expression of what she ought to suffer for her national offenses.

Of the Lord’s hand - From the hand, or by the agency of Yahweh. Whoever were the instruments, her sufferings were to be regarded as His appointment.

Double for all her sins - The word rendered ‘double’ (כפלים, kip^elayim) is the dual form from כפל (kepel) — ‘a doubling,’ and occurs in Job 41:13: Who will rip up the covering of his armor?
Against the doubling of his nostrils who will advance? (Good)

And in Job 11:6: And that he would unfold to them the secrets of wisdom,
That they are double to that which is.

That is, there are double-folds to God’s wisdom, or the wisdom of God is complicated, inexplicable (Gesenius). The word in Job means ‘conduplications, folds, complications, mazes, intricacies’ (Good).

The word here doubtless has its usual and proper meaning and denotes double, twice as much. The expression may denote that God had inflicted on them double that which had been usually inflicted on rebellious nations, or on the nation before for its sins.

Or the word may be used to denote abundance, and the prophet may intend to teach that they had been amply or abundantly punished for their crimes. ‘That is,’ says Grotius, ‘as much as God judged to be sufficient.’ ‘Double, here,’ says Calvin, ‘is to be received for large and abundant.’

Some have supposed (see Rosenmuller, who approves of this interpretation) that the word ‘sins’ here means the punishment of sins, and that the word ‘double’ refers to the mercies or favors which they were about to receive, or which God had purposed to confer on them.

So Lowth understands it and renders the word לקחה (lâq^echâh) ‘shall receive’ (in the future):
That she shall receive at the hand of Yahweh
(Blessings) double to the punishment of all her sins.
But though it was true that their favors on their return—in the hope of the Messiah and in their renovated privileges—would be far more numerous than their sufferings had been, this interpretation does not suit the connection as well, where the prophet is giving a reason why they should be released from their bondage and restored to the privileges of their own land.

That reason manifestly is that they had suffered what was regarded by Yahweh as an ample expression of His displeasure for their national offenses. It does not refer to individual sinners, nor to any power they have to make atonement for their sins, nor does it refer to the atonement made by the Messiah.

But it may be remarked, by the way, that in the sufferings of the Redeemer, there has been ample satisfaction for the sins of His people.

The Chaldee interpreter understands this as Rosenmuller does, that the word ‘double’ refers to the mercies which they had received: ‘Because she has received a cup of consolation from the presence of the Lord, as if (כאלוּ, k^e'ilû) she had been smitten twofold for all her sins.’

The voice of him who cries - Lowth and Noyes render this, ‘A voice cries,’ and connect the phrase ‘in the wilderness’ to the latter part of the sentence:

A voice cries, ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of Yahweh.’

The Hebrew קורא קול (qôl qôrē') will bear this construction, though the Vulgate and the Septuagint render it as in our common version. The sense is not essentially different, though the parallelism seems to require the translation proposed by Lowth. The design is to state the source of consolation referred to in the previous verses. The time of the exile at Babylon was about to be completed. Yahweh was about to conduct His people again to their own country through the pathless wilderness, as He had formerly conducted them from Egypt to the land of promise.

The prophet, therefore, represents himself as hearing the voice of a herald, or a forerunner, in the pathless waste, giving direction that a way should be made for the return of the people. The whole scene is represented as a march, or return of Yahweh at the head of His people to the land of Judea. The idea is taken from the practice of Eastern monarchs, who whenever they entered on a journey or an expedition, especially through a barren and unfrequented or inhospitable country, sent harbingers or heralds before them to prepare the way.

To do this, it was necessary for them to provide supplies, make bridges, or find fording places over the streams; to level hills and construct causeways over valleys, or fill them up; and to make a way through the forest that might lie in their intended line of march. This was necessary because these contemplated expeditions often involved the necessity of marching through countries where there were no public highways that would afford facilities for the passage of an army.

Thus Arrian (Hist. liv. 30) says of Alexander, ‘He now proceeded to the River Indus, the army (that is, ἡ στρατιά (hē stratia), a part of the army, or an army sufficient for the purpose) going before, which made a way for him, for otherwise there would have been no mode of passing through that region.’ ‘When a great prince in the East,’ says Paxton, ‘sets out on a journey, it is usual to send a party of men before him to clear the way.’

The state of those countries in every age, where roads are almost unknown and, from want of cultivation, in many places overgrown with brambles and other thorny plants, which renders traveling, especially with a large retinue, inconvenient, requires this precaution. The Emperor of Hindustan, in his progress through his dominions, as described in the narrative of Sir Thomas Roe’s embassy to the court of Delhi, was preceded by a very great company, sent before him to cut up the trees and bushes, to level and smooth the road, and prepare their place of encampment.

Perhaps we can form a clearer and more precise idea from the account Diodorus gives of the marches of Semiramis, the celebrated Queen of Babylon, into Media and Persia. “In her march to Ecbatana,” says the historian, “she came to the Zarcean mountain, which, extending many furlongs, and being full of craggy precipices and deep hollows, could not be passed without going a long way around. Being therefore desiring to leave an everlasting memorial of herself, as well as of shortening the way, she ordered the precipices to be dug down, and the hollows to be filled up; and at a great expense she made a shorter and more expeditious road, which to this day is called from her the road of Semiramis. Afterward she went into Persia, and all the other countries of Asia subjected to her dominion, and wherever she went, she ordered the mountains and precipices to be leveled, raised causeways in the plain country, and, at a great expense, made the ways passable.”

The writer of the apocryphal Book of Baruch refers to the same subject with the same images: For God hath appointed that every high hill, and banks of long continuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled up, to make even the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God (Isaiah 5:7). It is evident that the primary reference of this passage was to the exiles in Babylon, and to their return from their long captivity to the land of their fathers. The imagery, the circumstances, the design of the prophecy, all seem to demand such an interpretation.

At the same time it is as clear, I understand, that the prophet was inspired to use language, by design, which should appropriately express a more important event: the coming of the forerunner of the Messiah, and the work which he should perform as preparatory to His advent. There was such a striking similarity in the two events that they could be grouped together in the same part of the prophetic vision or picture; the mind would naturally, by the laws of prophetic suggestion (Introduction, Section 7, III. (3)), glance from one to the other, and the same language would appropriately and accurately express both. Both could be described as the coming of Yahweh to bless and save His people; both occurred after a long state of desolation and bondage—the one a bondage in Babylon, the other in sin and national declension.

‘It was,’ says Lowth, ‘in this desert country, destitute at that time of all religious cultivation, in true piety and works unfruitful, that John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord by preaching repentance.’

That this passage has a reference to John as the forerunner of the Messiah is evident from Matthew 3:3, where it is applied to him and introduced by this remark: For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice, etc. . The events were so similar in their main features that the same language would describe both.

John was nurtured in the desert and passed his early life there until he entered on his public work (Luke 1:80). He began to preach in a mountainous country, lying east of Jerusalem, sparsely inhabited, and usually spoken of as a desert or wilderness (Matthew 3:1). It was here that his voice was heard announcing the coming of the Messiah, and that he pointed Him to his own followers (John 1:28–29).

In the wilderness - Babylon was separated from Judea by an immense tract of country, which was one continued desert. A large part of Arabia, called Arabia Deserta, was situated in this region. To pass in a direct line, therefore, from Babylon to Jerusalem, it was necessary to go through this desolate country. It was here that the prophet speaks of hearing a voice commanding the hills to be leveled and the valleys filled up, that there might be a convenient highway for the people to return (compare the notes at Isaiah 35:8-10).

Prepare ye the way - This was in the form of the usual proclamation of a monarch commanding the people to make a way for him to pass. Applied to the return of the exiled Jews, it means that the command of God had gone forth that all obstacles should be removed. Applied to John, it means that the people were to prepare for the reception of the Messiah; that they were to remove all in their opinions and conduct which would tend to hinder His cordial reception, or which would prevent His success among them.

Of the Lord - Of Yahweh. Yahweh was the leader of his people and was about to conduct them to their own land. The march, therefore, was regarded as that of Yahweh, as a monarch or king, at the head of his people, conducting them to their own country. To prepare the way of Yahweh was, therefore, to prepare for his march at the head of his people. Applied to the Messiah, it means that God was about to come to his people to redeem them.

This language naturally and obviously implies that he whose way was thus to be prepared was Yahweh, the true God. So it was undoubtedly in regard to him who was to be the leader of the exiled Jews to their own land, since none but Yahweh could thus conduct them.

And if it is admitted that the language also has a reference to the Messiah, then it demonstrates that He was appropriately called Yahweh. That John the Immerser had such a view of Him is apparent from what is said of him.

Thus, (John 1:15), he says of Him that he was before him, which was not true unless He had an existence before His birth; he calls Him, (John 1:18), the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father; and in (John 1:34), he calls Him the Son of God (compare John 10:30, John 10:33, John 10:36). In (John 3:31), he says of Him, he that cometh from above is above all; he that cometh from heaven is above all. Though this is not one of the most direct and certain proof texts of the divinity of the Messiah, it is one which may be applied to Him when that divinity is demonstrated from other places. It is not one that can be used with absolute certainty in an argument on the subject to convince those who deny that divinity—since, even on the supposition that it refers to the Messiah, it may be said plausibly, and with some force, that it may mean that Yahweh was about to manifest Himself by means of the Messiah. Yet it is a passage which those who are convinced of the divinity of Christ from other sources will apply without hesitation to Him as descriptive of His rank and confirmatory of His divinity.

Make straight - Make a straight or direct road, one that should lead at once to their land. The Chaldee renders this verse, ‘Prepare a way before the people of Yahweh; make in the plain ways before the congregation of our God.’

A highway - (See the note at Isaiah 35:8).

Every valley shall be exalted - That is, every valley, or low piece of ground, shall be filled up to make a level highway, as was done to facilitate the march of armies. This verse is evidently designed to explain what is intended in Isaiah 40:3, by preparing the way for Yahweh. Applied to the return of the Jews from Babylon, it means simply that the impassable valleys were to be filled up to make a level road for their journey.

If applied to the work of John, the forerunner of the Messiah, it means that the nation was to be called on to put itself in a state of preparation for his coming and for the success of his labors among them. Vitringa and others have endeavored to specify what particular moral qualities in the nation are meant by the valley, by the mountain and hill, and by the crooked and rough places. But the illustrations are such that it cannot be demonstrated that the prophet was referring to them. The general sense is plain. The language, as we have seen, is taken from the march of a monarch at the head of his army.

The general idea is that all obstructions were to be removed, so that the march would be without hindrance. As applicable to the work of John, the language also generally means that whatever in the opinions, habits, and conduct, and in the pride, self-confidence, and irreligion of the nation would prevent his cordial reception, was to be removed.

Every mountain and hill - They shall be dug down to make the journey easy. All obstructions were to be removed.

And the crooked - The word used here (עקב ‛âqob) is usually rendered "crooked"; but perhaps not by any good authority. The verb עקב ‛âqab usually denotes to be behind, to come from behind, or, as Gesenius supposes, to be elevated like a mound, arched like a hill or tumulus; it is therefore applied to the heel due to its shape (Hosea 12:4). According to this, the word would properly denote a hill, mound, or acclivity, which would push back those who attempted to ascend.

Shall be made straight - Margin, "A straight place". The Hebrew word (מישׁור mîyshôr) properly denotes "evenness," a level region, a plain. The hilly places would be reduced to a level.

And the rough places - These are places that are hard, bound up, stony, and difficult to pass. These include places abounding with rocks and precipices, which presented obstructions to a journey. Such places were common in the region lying between Palestine and Babylon.

Plain - Margin, "A plain place". This means a smooth, level plain.

And the glory of the Lord - The phrase here evidently means the majesty, power, or honor of Yahweh. He would display his power and show himself to be a covenant-keeping God by delivering his people from their bondage and leading them back to their own land. This glory and faithfulness would be shown in his delivering them from their captivity in Babylon; and it would be still more illustriously shown in his sending the Messiah to accomplish the deliverance of his people in later days.

And all flesh - All human beings. The word ‘flesh’ is often used to denote human nature, or mankind in general (Genesis 6:12; Psalms 65:3; Psalms 145:21). The idea is that the deliverance of his people would be such a display of the divine interposition that all nations would discern the evidences of his power and glory. But there is a fullness and a richness in the language which indicates that it is not to be confined to that event. It is more strikingly applicable to the advent of the Messiah, and to the fact that through him the glory of Yahweh would be manifest to all nations. Rosenmuller supposes that this should be translated:

And all flesh shall see together

That the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.

The Hebrew will bear this construction, but there is no necessity for departing from the translation in the common version. The Septuagint adds here the words ‘salvation of God’ so as to read it, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, and this reading has been adopted in Luke 3:6; or it may be more probable that Luke (Luke 3:4–6) has quoted from different parts of Isaiah, and that he intended to quote that part, not from the version of the Septuagint, but from Isaiah 52:10. Lowth, on the authority of the Septuagint, proposes to restore these words to the Hebrew text. But the authority is insufficient. The Vulgate, the Chaldee, the Syriac, and the Hebrew manuscripts concur in the reading of the present Hebrew text, and the authority of the Septuagint is altogether insufficient to justify a change.

For the mouth of the Lord - The strongest possible confirmation that it would be fulfilled (see the note at Isaiah 34:16). The idea is that God had certainly promised their deliverance from bondage, and that his interposition, in a manner which should attract the attention of all nations, was certainly purposed by him. Few events have ever more impressively manifested the glory of God than the redemption of his people from Babylon; none has occurred, or will ever occur, that will more impressively demonstrate his glory, wisdom, and faithfulness, than the redemption of the world by the Messiah.