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Matthew Henry

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

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 40:9-11

It was promised (Isa. 40:5) that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; that is it with the hopes of which God's people must be comforted. Now here we are told, I. How it shall be revealed, Isa. 40:9. 1. It shall be revealed to Zion and Jerusalem; notice shall be given of it to the remnant that are left in Zion and Jerusalem, the poor of the land, who were vine-dressers and husbandmen; it shall be told them that their brethren shall return to them. This shall be told also to the captives who... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:8

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth ,.... Which is repeated, to raise attention to it, as being a matter of importance, and for the confirmation of it: but the word of our God shall stand for ever ; the Apostle Peter adds, by way of explanation, and this is the word, which by the Gospel is preached unto you ; who seems to distinguish the word from the Gospel, by which it is preached, and to intend Christ the essential Word; who stands or abides for ever as a divine Person; in his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:9

O Zion, that bringest good tidings ,.... Or, "O thou that bringest good tidings to Zion F14 מבשרת ציון "O quae evangelizas Tsijoni", Juntas & Tremellius, Piscator. "; which rendering of the words is more agreeable to the latter part of the verse, say unto the cities of Judah , &c.; and to some parallel places, Isaiah 41:27 and to the type, the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon; the tidings of which came from Babylon to Zion, or Jerusalem; and to the Targum which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 think, very clearly appear, if we rightly consider the image itself, and the custom and common practice from which it is taken. I have added the word daughter to express the feminine gender of the Hebrew participle, which... 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 40:4-8

God's promises sure. With Isaiah it is enough that "the month of the Lord has spoken" a thing ( Isaiah 1:20 ; Isaiah 40:5 ). "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent" ( Numbers 23:19 ). What he has promised, he will perform; what he has said, he will do, in the sense in which he said it. It is true, his promises are of two kinds I. GOD 'S UNCONDITIONAL PROMISES ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN OF ACCOMPLISHMENT . God has promised that he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:6-8

The passing and the abiding. We are so little affected by that with which we are most familiar, that we need to hear a voice crying in our ear and reminding us of what we well know to be true. To nothing is this more applicable than the transitory nature of our human life and our earthly interests. We want to be told— I. THAT HUMAN LIFE IS CONTINUALLY PASSING . We do well to walk in the city of the dead, and let the gravestones, with their names and dates, speak to us with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:6-8

The transitory and the permanent. This passage is brought to our minds, in the early summer-time, by the sight and the smell of the fields. One day they shine with the glory of the golden flowers, and, in a little while, the flowers are fallen, the grass is withered, and we are freshly impressed with the mutability of all earthly things. Man changes; God is the "same, yesterday, and to-day, and for ever" Man removes; God abides, and his dwelling-place is as the everlasting hills. Man dies;... read more

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