Isaiah 40:21

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 40:18-26

The prophet here reproves those, 1. Who represented God by creatures, and so changed his truth into a lie and his glory into shame, who made images and then said that they resembled God, and paid their homage to them accordingly. 2. Who put creatures in the place of God, who feared them more than God, as if they were a match for him, or loved them more than God, as if they were fit to be rivals with him. Twice the challenge is here made, To whom will you liken God? Isa. 40:18; and again Isa.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:21

Have ye not known? This is the speech of the prophet, directed to the idolaters, appealing to their own natural knowledge, who, from the light of nature, might know that idols were nothing, had no divinity in them: that it is God that made the earth and governs the world, and who only ought to be worshipped: have ye not heard ? by tradition from the ancients, from your forefathers, who received it from theirs, and have delivered it to you: hath it not been told you from the beginning ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 God, blessed for ever; and man is the steward into whose hand all the business of the house is given. If he always consider in his heart that the Master of the house is continually over him, and that he keeps his eye upon his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-31

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:12-26

God in creation. Creation tells of God in many ways. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork: day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge" ( Psalms 19:1 , Psalms 19:2 ). "The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead" ( Romans 1:20 ). Here we have noted especially— I. GOD 'S MARVELLOUSNESS IN CREATION ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:12-31

THE MIGHT AND GREATNESS OF GOD CONTRASTED WITH THE WEAKNESS OF MAN AND THE FUTILITY OF IDOLS . If captive Israel is to be induced to turn' to God, and so hasten the time of its restoration to his favour and to its own land, it must be by rising to a worthy conception of the nature and attributes of the Almighty. The prophet, therefore, in the remainder of this chapter, paints in glorious language the power and greatness, dud at the same time the mercy, of God,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:16-26

The hopelessness and the simplicity of Divine service. "Lebanon is not sufficient to burn," etc.; "Not one faileth." If we were asked whether it was a very difficult or a very simple thing to serve the Lord, we should say, "It is both the one and the other; everything depends upon the way and the spirit in which we proceed." We learn— I. THAT MERE QUANTITY OF SERVICE IS VAIN AND FUTILE . "Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor will [all] the beasts thereof suffice... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:18-26

The degradation of the Divine. The holy indignation of the prophet is aroused as he sees the Godhead so pitifully presented to the mind, so shamefully represented to the eyes of men. He has in view the power and majesty of the Supreme One, and places in contrast the creatures of human imagination, the fabrications of the human hand. We have the degradation of the Divine— I. AS IT APPEARED TO THE HEBREW PROPHET . He beheld: 1 . The power and the majesty of God , ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:19-26

Idolatry ridiculous. A strong tone of irony and ridicule runs through the description; and nothing could better illustrate by contrast that sublime faith which has just been presented to our view. I. THE IMAGE CONTRASTED WITH JEHOVAH . All our thought is composed of images, but what a descent from that image in the mind and solely there on which we have been dwelling, to yonder thing of metal, which the craftsman casts, and the goldsmith overlays with gold, and for which he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:21

Have ye not known? Hitherto the prophet has restrained himself, and confined himself to quiet sarcasm. Now he bursts out. Is there any one so insensate, so devoid of natural reason and understanding, as not to know what has been known to all from the beginning—yea, from the foundations of the earth—by "the light that is in them," viz. that God is something wholly different from this?—that he is such a One as the prophet proceeds to describe in Isaiah 40:22-24 , alike above nature and above... read more

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