CHAPTER XL _In this chapter the prophet opens the subject respecting the_ _restoration of the Church with great force and elegance;_ _declaring God's command to his messengers the prophets to_ _comfort his people in their captivity, and to impart to them_ _the glad tidings that the time of favo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:2. _DOUBLE FOR ALL HER SINS _- "Blessings double to the punishment."] It does not seem reconcilable to our notions of the Divine justice, which always punishes less than our iniquities deserve, to suppose that God had punished the sins of the Jews in double proportion; and it is mor... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:3. _THE VOICE OF HIM THAT CRIETH IN THE WILDERNESS_ - "A voice crieth, In the wilderness"] The idea is taken from the practice of eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition or took a journey, especially through desert and unpractised countries, sent harbingers b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:4. _CROOKED_] The word עקב _akob_ is very generally rendered _crooked_: but this sense of the word seems not to be supported by any good authority. _Ludolphus_, Comment. ad Hist. AEthiop. p. 206, says "that in the Ethiopia language it signifies _clivus, locus_ _editus_:" and so the _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:5. "The salvation of our God."] These words are added here by the _Septuagint_: το σωτηριον του Θεου, את ישועת אלהינו _eth_ _yesuath Eloheynu_, as it is in the parallel place, Isaiah 52:10. The sentence is abrupt without it, the verb wanting its object; and I think it is genuine. Our... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:6. _THE VOICE SAID, CRY_ - "A voice saith Proclaim"] To understand rightly this passage is a matter of importance; for it seems designed to give us the true key to the remaining part of Isaiah's prophecies, the general subject of which is the restoration of the people and Church of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:7. _THE GRASS WITHERETH_] The whole of this verse is wanting in three of _Kennicott's_ and five of _De Rossi's_ MSS., and in a very correct and ancient MS. of my own, and also in the _Septuagint_ and _Arabic_. _SURELY THE PEOPLE_ - "Verily this people"] So the _Syriac_; who perhaps... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:9. _O ZION, THAT BRINGEST GOOD TIDINGS_ - "O daughter, that bringest glad tidings to Zion"] That the true construction of the sentence is this, which makes Zion the receiver, not the publisher, of the glad tidings, which latter has been the most prevailing interpretation, will, I th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:10. _HIS REWARD_ IS _WITH HIM, AND HIS WORK BEFORE HIM.__ _- "His reward is with him, and the recompense of his work before him."] That is, the reward and the recompense which he bestows, and which he will pay to his faithful servants; this he has ready at hand with him, and holds it... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:11. _SHALL GENTLY LEAD THOSE THAT ARE WITH YOUNG_ - "The nursing ewes shall he gently lead."] A beautiful image, expressing, with the utmost propriety as well as elegance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock. That the greatest care in driving the cattle in regard to th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:16. _AND LEBANON IS NOT SUFFICIENT_] The image is beautiful and uncommon. It has been imitated by an apocryphal writer, who however comes far short of the original: - "For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto thee: And all the fat is not sufficient for thy burnt-offe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:19. _AND CASTETH SILVER CHAINS _- "And forgeth for it chains of silver."] For צורף _tsoreph_, the participle, twenty-seven MSS., five ancient, and three editions, read צרף _tsaraph_, pret. third person.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:20. _CHOOSETH A TREE THAT WILL NOT ROT_] For what? To make a god out of it! The _rich_ we find made theirs of _gold_ and _silver_; the _poor man_ was obliged to put up with a _wooden god_! From the words "he that hath no oblation chooseth a tree," we may learn that the gold and silve... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:21. _HAVE YE NOT KNOWN_] On this verse _Kimchi_ has a very interesting comment, an extract of which I subjoin. "The whole world may be considered as a house built up; _heaven_ its roof; the _stars_ its lamps; and the fruits of the earth its table spread. The _Master_ of the house is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:22. _AS A CURTAIN_ - "As a thin veil"] "It is usual in the summer season, and upon all occasions when a large company is to be received, to have the court sheltered from heat or inclemency of the weather by a _velum_, umbrella, or veil, as I shall call it; which being expanded on rop... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:24. _AND HE SHALL ALSO BLOW UPON THEM _- "And if he but blow upon them"] The _Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate_, and MS. _Bodl_., with another, have גם _gam, only_, without the conjunction ו _vau,_ _and_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:26. _LEFT UP YOUR EYES ON HIGH_] The rabbins say, He who is capable of meditating on the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and does not meditate on them, is not worthy to have his name mentioned among men.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:28. THERE IS _NO SEARCHING OF HIS UNDERSTANDING _- "And that his understanding is unsearchable."] Twenty-four MSS., two editions, the _Septuagint_ and _Vulgate_, read ואין _veein_, with the conjunction ו _vau_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 40:31. _THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES_ - "They shall put forth fresh feathers like the moulting eagle"] It has been a common and popular opinion that the eagle lives and retains his vigour to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old ag... [ Continue Reading ]