Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40 is the fortieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.^[1][2] This book contains the prophecies spoken by the prophet Isaiah, and is a part of the Book of the Prophets.^[3][4] Parts of this chapter are cited in all four canonical Gospels of the New Testament.

Text

• The original text is written in Hebrew language.
• This chapter is divided into 31 verses.

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

• Masoretic Text (10th century)
• Dead Sea Scrolls: (2nd century BC)^[5][6]
  • 1QIsa^a: complete^[5]
  • 1QIsa^b: extant: verses 1-4^[5]
  • 4QIsa^b (4Q56): extant: verses 1‑4, 22‑26^[5]
  • 5Q³ (5QIsa): extant: verses 16, 18‑19^[5]

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

• Septuagint (3rd century BC)
• Theodotion version (~AD 180)

Structure

This chapter can be grouped:

• Isaiah 40:1-2 = God’s People Are Comforted
• Isaiah 40:3-13 = The voice in the wilderness
• Isaiah 40:14-31 = The coming of the LORD

Verse 3

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.^[7]

Cited in all four gospels in New Testament as fulfilled in the person of John the Baptist, who prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ the Lord (Matthew 3:1-3; Mark 1:2-5; Luke 3:2-6;John 1:23). John himself confessed that the verse pertains to him:

He [John the Baptist] said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.^[8]

Verse 4

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:^[9]

Cited in Luke 3:5

Verse 5

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together:

for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.^[10]

Cited in Luke 3:6

Verse 13

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or as His counselor has taught Him?^[11]

• Cross reference: Jeremiah 23:18
• Cited in Romans 11:34

Verse 22

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,

and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;

that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain,

and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:^[12]

• "circle" is applicable to the "globular form" of the earth, above which, and the vault of sky around it.^[13]
• "upon" can be translated as "above."^[13]
• "grasshoppers" or "locusts" in God's sight (Numbers 13:33), as He looks down from on high (Psalm 33:13, 14; Psalm 113:4-6).^[13]
• "curtain" refers to the "awning" which the Orientals draw over the open court in the center of their houses as a shelter in rain or hot weather.^[13]

See also

• Christian messianic prophecies
• John the Baptist
• Messianic prophecies of Jesus
• Related Bible parts: Exodus 19, Jeremiah 23, Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1, Romans 11, 1 Peter 5

Notes and references

External links

Jewish

• Isaiah 40:Original Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

• Isaiah 40 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Messiah