Isaiah 40:7

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 40:7

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth ,.... And so does man, and all his glory and goodliness: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it : alluding to some impetuous and blasting wind blowing upon herbs and flowers, to the withering and fading of them; see Psalm 103:15 , legal ordinances ceased upon the pouring forth of the Spirit. The external excellencies of men, or their outward advantages, perish at the breath of God, at the blast of his nostrils, when taken away by death;... 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 40:1-11

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 40:4-8

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:7

The flower fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. When the hot winds, which God sends, blow in spring-time, the flowers fade; when a destroying breath from him (see Isaiah 30:33 ) passes over the generations of men, they perish. Surely the people is grass . Either a mere repetition of "all flesh is grass" ( Isaiah 40:6 ) with an asseveration, or an intimation that "the people" of Israel is not exempt from the lot of mankind in general, but shares it. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:7-8

The imperishable. "The grass withereth," etc. The soul of man is immortal, and the Word that is to feed it is immortal too. I. THE DECAY OF NATURE . "The grass withereth"—that which feeds the dying race of creatures upon earth. "The flower fadeth"—that which regales the physical senses of man. Each generation learns this great lesson, and it is interwoven into poem and song in every literature. II. THE SYMBOLISM OF NATURE . These pictures of decay are to teach us how... read more

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