isaiah-40:1-8,-luke-1:1-4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:1

Comfort ye, comfort ye - "The whole of this prophecy," says Kimchi, "belongs to the days of the Messiah." read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 more agreeable to the tenor of this consolatory message to understand it as a promise of ample recompense for the effects of past displeasure, on the reconciliation of God to his returning people. To express this sense of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth to 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 before them to prepare all things for their passage, and pioneers to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all impediments. The officers appointed to superintend such preparations the Latins call stratores ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 Syriac Version renders it in this place, ערמא arama : Hebrew, ערמה aramah , tumulus, acervus . Thus the parallelism would be more perfect:" the hilly country shall be made level, and the precipices a smooth... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:5

"The salvation of our God" - These words are added here by the Septuagint: το σωτηριον του Θεου , אלהינו ישועת את 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 English translation has supplied the word it, which is equivalent to this addition, from the Septuagint. This omission in the Hebrew text is ancient, being prior to the Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate Versions:... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:6

The voice saint 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 God. The prophet opens the subject with great clearness and elegance: he declares at once God's command to his messengers, (his prophets, as the Chaldee rightly explains it), to comfort his people in captivity, to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 read הזה העם haam hazzeh . Because the spirit of the Lord "When the wind of Jehovah" - יהוה רוח ruach Jehovah , a wind of Jehovah, is a Hebraism, meaning no more than a strong wind. It is well known that a hot wind... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people . The key-note is struck at once. With that iteration which is his favourite mode of emphasizing what is important (see the comment on Isaiah 38:11 ), the prophet declares that he and his brethren have a direct mission from God to "comfort" Israel. Note the encouragement contained in the expressions, "my people," and "your God." Israel is not cast off, even when most deeply afflicted. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1

The comfort of God's restored favour. The question of the authorship of the latter half of Isaiah resolves itself into a discussion of its claim to be prophetical. If it is descriptive, it must have been written by some "great unknown." If it is prophetical, and a vision of historical events covering long centuries, but grouped for effective representation, then it may have been written by Isaiah, and it fittingly completes a work which, revealing Divine judgments, also reveals "mercy ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-2

Comfort after trouble. God "has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth;" it is no satisfaction to him to punish. As soon as ever those whom he is forced to punish will submit to the chastening rod in a proper spirit, and allow the staff of the Divine indignation to have its due effect upon them, God is ready to comfort. God the Holy Ghost is the One True Comforter. He and he alone can pour balm into the heart, quiet the conscience, enable the stricken soul to feel that it is once more at... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:1

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:6

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:7

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-2

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