Isaiah 40:29 Komentář

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 40 This chapter treats of the comforts of God's people; of the forerunner and coming of the Messiah; of his work, and the dignity of his person; of the folly of making idols, and of the groundless complaints of the church of God. The consolations of God's people, by whom to be administered, and the matter, ground, and reason of them, Isa 40:1. John the Baptist, the harbinger of Christ, is described by his work and office, and the effects of it; it issuing in the humiliation of some, and the exaltation of others, and in the revelation of the glory of Christ, Isa 40:3, then follows an order to every minister of the Gospel what he should preach and publish; the weakness and insufficiency of men to anything that is spiritually good; their fading and withering goodliness, which is to be ascribed to the blowing of the Spirit of God upon it; and the firmness and constancy of the word of God is declared, Isa 40:6, next the apostles of Christ in Jerusalem are particularly exhorted to publish fervently and openly the good tidings of the Gospel; to proclaim the coming of Christ, the manner of it, and the work he came about; and to signify his faithful discharge of his office as a shepherd, Isa 40:9, the dignity of whose person is set forth by his almighty power, by his infinite wisdom, and by the greatness of his majesty, in comparison of which all nations and things are as nothing, Isa 40:12 and then the vanity of framing any likeness to God, and of forming idols for worship, is observed, Isa 40:18, and from the consideration of the divine power in creation and upholding all things, the church of God is encouraged to expect renewed strength and persevering grace, and is blamed for giving way to a distrustful and murmuring spirit, Isa 40:26.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary,.... Such as are in the prime of their strength, and glory in it, yet through the hand of God upon them, by one disease or another, their strength is weakened in the way; or they meet with that which they are not equal to, and sink under, and are discouraged, and obliged to desist. Some think the Babylonians and Chaldeans are here meant, the enemies of Israel, and by whom they were carried captive. The Targum interprets this clause, as well as the following, of wicked and ungodly men; and so do Jarchi and Kimchi: it may be applied to the Heathen emperors, who persecuted the church of God, and were smitten by him, and found it too hard a work to extirpate Christianity out of the world, which they thought to have done; and also to all the antichristian states, who have given their power and strength to the beast: and the young men shall utterly fail; or, "falling shall fall" (f); stumble and fall, die and perish; or, however, not be able to perform their enterprise. (f) "corruendo corruent", Montanus; "labefacti cadent", Castalio.

(Verse 27 and following) Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over by my God? Do you not know, or have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint, neither is He weary, and there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. LXX: Do not say, Jacob, and what you spoke, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is disregarded by my God, and now you do not know, and have not heard? The eternal God, the God who created the ends of the earth: he shall not hunger, nor shall he labor, nor is there any finding of his understanding. He gives strength to the hungry: and does not grieve the sorrowful. For the young will hunger, and the adolescents will labor, and the chosen ones will be weak. But those who wait for God will change their strength. They will take wings like eagles: they will run, and will not labor: they will walk, and will not hunger. The greatness of the Almighty God is so vast that nothing escapes him, and everything is governed by his will. So why do you say Jacob, that is, the two tribes that were called Judah; and you speak of Israel, the other ten tribes in Samaria, who have already been led captive into Assyria: My way is hidden from the Lord: and my just judgment will pass by my God? And this is the meaning: You say that earthly things do not pertain to God, nor does He consider what each of us does. Hence we are unjustly oppressed by our enemies, and, like the beasts and the fish, we are scattered without any governor, according to Habakkuk. To this God responds: Do you not know? Have the words of the preceding Scriptures not taught you, or do you not know according to the Septuagint, because you have not heard that the eternal God and Creator of all things knows all things, contains all things, and governs all things with His majesty? Does it not fail at any time, nor does it labor; so that it does not understand your judgement, and your ways are hidden from it? There is no investigation of his wisdom, about which place I think that saying of the Apostle is taken: His judgments are incomprehensible, and his ways are investigable (perhaps 'unsearchable') (Rom. XI, 33); or, as the LXX translated, he does not hunger, and he does not labor. For where there is food, there is often hunger if you remove the food: and where there is hunger, there is also labor. But since these things are not in God, why do you attribute human passions to him? Rather, he gives strength to the hungry and weary, and he multiplies virtue and strength to those who seem to be nothing in the world. According to the Septuagint, it is he who gives sorrow to those who do not grieve, for it is sadness that leads to death, and it is sadness that leads to life. Therefore, to those who have a hardened heart, he gives sadness so that they may understand their sins. And because many take pleasure in bodily health, and consider youth and childhood to be perpetual, he joins this and says that the flourishing age quickly falls, and strong bodies wither. But those who have confidence not in their own strength, but in God, and always await His mercy, let them change their strength and go from virtue to virtue: and let them take wings like eagles, and hear: Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's (Psalm 103:5); let them run to the Lord, and not grow weary of desiring Him; let them walk, and never grow faint. We have frequently said that the eagles' old age is rejuvenated by a change of feathers, and only those eagles can look upon the sun's rays and behold the splendor of its shining with sparkling eyes: and they should prove their noble offspring, by means of this experiment. And so even the saints are made young again, and with an immortal body, they do not feel the toil of mortals, but are caught up in the clouds to meet Christ, and never go hungry according to the LXX, because they have the Lord himself as food.

This is what the admirable Hannah has also said: "The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, and he lifts up."

Second, by the great things which he does in others. And first, in those whom he strengthens, he shows their original weakness: it is he that gives strength, as to him who first had been strong and then weakened; to them that are not, as to those who were not strong, above: you have been a strength to the poor (Isa 25:4); he calls those things that are not (Rom 4:17); the weak things of the world has God chosen (1 Cor 1:27).

This and the four following chapters contain a distinct account of what passed in the land of Judah from the taking of Jerusalem to the retreat of the remnant of the people to Egypt; together with the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning that place, whither he himself accompanied them. In this chapter we have an account of the enlargement of Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, who advises him to put himself under the jurisdiction of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land of Judea, Jer 40:1-5. The prophet and many of the dispersed Jews repair to Gedaliah, Jer 40:6-12. Johanan acquaints the governor of a conspiracy against him, but is not believed, Jer 40:13-16.

SECOND PART OF THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. (Isa. 40:1-31) Comfort ye, comfort ye--twice repeated to give double assurance. Having announced the coming captivity of the Jews in Babylon, God now desires His servants, the prophets (Isa 52:7), to comfort them. The scene is laid in Babylon; the time, near the close of the captivity; the ground of comfort is the speedy ending of the captivity, the Lord Himself being their leader. my people . . . your God--correlatives (Jer 31:33; Hos 1:9-10). It is God's covenant relation with His people, and His "word" of promise (Isa 40:8) to their forefathers, which is the ground of His interposition in their behalf, after having for a time chastised them (Isa 54:8).

Not only does He "not faint" (Isa 40:28) but He gives power to them who do faint. no might . . . increaseth strength--a seeming paradox. They "have no might" in themselves; but in Him they have strength, and He "increases" that strength (Co2 12:9).

Jehovah is so far from becoming faint, that it is He who gives strength to the fainting. "Giving power to the faint, and to the incapable He giveth strength in abundance." אונים לאין is equivalent to אונים אין לאשׁר אין is used exactly like a privative to form a negative adjective (e.g., Psa 88:5; Pro 25:3).