Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40 is the fortieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies spoken by the prophet Isaiah, and is a part of the Book of the Prophets.^[1][2] Parts of this chapter are cited in all four canonical Gospels of the New Testament.

Text

• The original text is written in Hebrew language.
• This chapter is divided into 31 verses.

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

• Masoretic Text (10th century)
• Dead Sea Scrolls: (2nd century BC)^[3]
  • 1QIsa^a: complete
  • 1QIsa^b: extant: verses 1-4
  • 4QIsa^b (4Q56): extant: verses 1‑4, 22‑26
  • 5Q³ (5QIsa): extant: verses 16, 18‑19

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

• Septuagint (3rd century BC)
• Theodotion version (~AD 180)

Structure

This chapter can be grouped:

• Isaiah 40:3-13 = The voice in the wilderness
• Isaiah 40:14-31 = The coming of the LORD

Verse 3

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.^[4]

Cited in all four gospels in New Testament as fulfilled in the person of John the Baptist, who prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ the Lord (Matthew 3:1-3; Mark 1:2-5; Luke 3:2-6;John 1:23). John himself confessed that the verse pertains to him:

He [John the Baptist] said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.^[5]

Some English translations associate the reference to "the wilderness" with "the voice which cries out": examples include the King James Version and New King James Version, the Geneva Bible, Wycliffe's translation, the Darby Bible and Brenton's translation of the Septuagint. In more recent translations, "the wilderness" is associated with the place where the way of the Lord is to be prepared: examples include the ASV, Common English Bible, Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version.

Verse 4

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:^[6]

Cited in Luke 3:5

Verse 5

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together:

for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.^[7]

Cited in Luke 3:6

Verse 13

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or as His counselor has taught Him?^[8]

• Cross reference: Jeremiah 23:18
• Cited in Romans 11:34

Verse 22

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,

and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;

that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain,

and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:^[9]

See also

• Christian messianic prophecies
• John the Baptist
• Messianic prophecies of Jesus
• Related Bible parts: Exodus 19, Jeremiah 23, Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1, Romans 11, 1 Peter 5

Notes and references

External links

Jewish

• Isaiah 40:Original Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

• Isaiah 40 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Messiah