Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 40:9

"O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!" — Isaiah 40:9 (ASV)

O Zion, that bringest good tidings. — A new section begins. In some versions (Septuagint and Targum) and by some interpreters, “Zion” is taken as in the objective case, O you who bring glad tidings to Zion; but as the participle, “you who bring,” is in the feminine, and a female evangelist other than Jerusalem has not appeared on the scene, the Authorised Version is preferable. In that rendering, the ideal Zion, seeing or hearing of the return of the exiles, becomes the bearer of the good news to the other cities of Judah.

It is not without emotion that we note the first occurrence of the word which, passing through the Greek of the Septuagint and the New Testament (εὐαγγελίζεσθαι), has had so fruitful a history, as embodying the message of the Gospel—good-spell, glad tidings—to mankind. The primary meaning of the Hebrew word is to make smooth, or bright, and so “to gladden.” (Compare the connection of this English word with the German glatten.)

The high mountain. — There is no article in the Hebrew, but the word is probably connected with the ideal exaltation of the holy city, as in Isaiah 2:1.

Behold your God! — The words have, in one sense, only an ideal fulfilment; but the prophet contemplates the return of the exiles and the restoration of the Temple worship, as involving the renewed presence of Jehovah in the sanctuary which He had apparently abandoned. He would come back with His people, and abide with them.