Isaiah 40:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 40:3-8

The time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, having come, the people of God must be prepared, by repentance and faith, for the favours designed them; and, in order to call them to both these, we have here the voice of one crying in the wilderness, which may be applied to those prophets who were with the captives in their wilderness-state, and who, when they saw the day of their deliverance dawn, called earnestly upon them to prepare for it, and assured them that all the difficulties which stood... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness ,.... Not the voice of the Holy Ghost, as Jarchi; but of John the Baptist, as is attested by all the evangelists, Matthew 3:3 and by John himself, John 1:23 , who was a "voice" not like the man's nightingale, "vox et praeterea nihil" a voice and nothing else; he had not only a sonorous, but an instructive teaching voice; he had the voice of a prophet, for he was a prophet: we read of the voices of the prophets, their doctrines and... 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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-11

The prophet's commission. He is to unfold a theme of consolation, which runs through the whole of the book, introduced by this chapter. He speaks to the prophets: "Ye prophets, prophesy consolation concerning my people" (Targum of Jonathan); or, "O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem," according to the LXX . The former is probably correct. The prophets were numerous both in Isaiah's time ( Isaiah 3:1 ; Isaiah 29:10 , Isaiah 29:20 ) and during the Babylonian exile ( Jeremiah... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-31

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth ; rather, the voice of one that crieth. A voice sounds in the prophet's ear, crying to repentance. For God to come down on earth, for his glory to be revealed in any signal way, by the restoration of a nation, or the revelation of himself in Christ, or the final establishment of his kingdom, the "way" must be first "prepared" for him. The hearts of the disobedient must be turned to the wisdom of the just. In the wilderness; either, "the wilderness of this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3

Needed preparations for Christ. "Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord." The figure used by the prophet is one whose forte could only be fully apprehended in that country to which he belonged. Until recent years there were no roads, at least no roads on which vehicles might be drawn; only such paths, often very rough, and steep, and dangerous, as would be made by the passing to and fro of cattle and of men. But a few years ago, when Ibrahim Pasha proposed to visit certain places... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3-5

The golden age. " Every valley shall be exalted ," etc. Everything depends upon how we view the future, whether with the horoscope of history or prophecy. History says the old evils return—war, strife, wrong, selfishness. Then the heart sinks, and inspiration to duty is weakened. But when we go with the prophet to the mountain-tops, we see— I. PATHS OF PREPARATION . "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." There are the ruins of the old military roads of the Caesars, but the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3-6

Human preparation for the Divine advent. We shall find, with very little seeking, a threefold application for these words: I. THE MANIFESTED GLORY OF GOD . This was to be displayed and has been shown in two illustrations which are now historical. 1 . The faithfulness and the power of Jehovah in the accomplishment of his people's redemption from exile. 2 . A more striking instance of Divine faithfulness, wisdom, and power, in the giving of the gospel of his grace, in... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth - Lowth and Noyes render this, ‘A voice crieth,’ and annex the phrase ‘in the wilderness’ to the latter part of the sentence:A voice crieth, ‘In the wilderness prepare ye the way of Yahweh.’The Hebrew (קורא קול qôl qôrē') will bear this construction, though the Vulgate and the Septuagint render it as in our common version. The sense is not essentially different, though the parallelism seems to require the translation proposed by Lowth. The design is to state the... read more

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