Isaiah 40:5 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.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed..... Christ himself, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, and his own glory, as the glory of the of the only begotten of the Father; the glorious perfections of his nature, seen in the miracles wrought, and in the doctrines taught by him; the glory of the divine Father, in the face or person of Christ; and the glory of his attributes, in the work of salvation by him; all which is most clearly discerned in the glass of the Gospel, or in the ministry of the word, by John, Christ himself, and his apostles: and all flesh shall see it together; not the Jews only, but Gentiles also; not with their bodily eyes, but with the eyes of their understanding; even the salvation of the Lord, and his glory, as displayed in it, being set forth in the everlasting Gospel to the view of all; see Luk 3:7, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it: that his glory should be revealed, and be visible to all, and therefore sure and certain; for what he has said he does, and what he has spoken he makes good. The Targum is, "for by the word of the Lord it is so decreed;'' and therefore shall be fulfilled.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. [Isaiah 40:3-5]

He [Christ] was a reproach but at the same time also the majesty of the Lord, as it is written, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see the salvation of God.” What had he lost if he had nothing less? He had neither comeliness nor beauty, but he had not ceased to be the power of God. He appeared a man, but the divine majesty and glory of the Father shone on earth.

(Verse 3 onwards) The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. LXX: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, for the Lord has spoken. When the scribes and Pharisees and Jewish leaders heard John preaching in the wilderness and baptizing with a baptism of repentance, they sent messengers to ask him if he was the Christ, or Elijah, or a prophet. And when he answered that he was none of these, they asked him again, 'Then who are you?' So that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? And he answered: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the Prophet said (John 1:22-23)'. In which it should be noted that the straight paths of the Lord and the ways of our God: the filling of valleys and mountains, the humbling of hills and the correction of the wicked, and the rough places made level: and the glory of the Lord and the salvation of our God, will not be proclaimed in Jerusalem, but in the solitude of the Church, and in the deserted multitude of the nations, of which we read above (Isaiah 35:1): 'Rejoice, O desert, and let the wilderness exult, and let it blossom like the lily.' For this knowledge of God was unknown and humbled by idols, lowly in confession, exalted in pride, rough and unyielding in wrath. But after the glory of the Lord appeared, and all flesh saw the salvation of God, everything suddenly changed, and the way of the Lord was prepared, so that the glory of God would appear in the wilderness. When the Lord was baptized in the Jordan and the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and remained in him, and the voice of the Father from above was heard, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him. (Matthew 3:17). And all flesh saw the salvation of God. Which is why it was called flesh, because it did not have the Holy Spirit before. Concerning this, the Lord says: My spirit will not remain in these people, because they are flesh (Gen. VI, 3). But that flesh will see the salvation of God, of which the same Joel spoke: I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy (Joel. II, 28). This is not only what John proclaimed at that time, who was the precursor and forerunner of the word of God, rightly called the voice (Matth. III); but even to this day in the wilderness of the Gentiles, the teachers of the Churches cry out: that we may make straight paths and ways for God in our hearts, that we may be filled with virtues, and may be inclined with humility; that we may change what is evil into what is right, and what is rough into what is gentle: and thus we may deserve to see the glory of the Lord and the salvation of God.

But when he took on flesh, he took on the universal logos of flesh. For he triumphed over the powers of all flesh in the flesh, and thus he came to the aid of all flesh, as is said in Isaiah, “all flesh will see the salvation of God,” and in the psalms, “All flesh will come to you.”

And this is the Lord of glory, and we too have come to know his glory. However, those of old did not see it when he showed himself during the dispensation in which he was made man, equal to God the Father in strength, operation and glory, bearing all things by the word of his power and with great tranquillity performing godly works, enhancing creation, raising the dead and performing other deeds of wonder effortlessly. For the glory of the Lord appeared, and all flesh saw the salvation of God, that is, of the Father. For he has sent us his Son from heaven to salvation and redemption. For the law brings no one to perfection, for the sacrifices in prefigurative form were unable to deal with sin. But we have been perfected in Christ and reconciled from every fault as we have been honored with the spirit of sonship.

The one who has made these declarations, he says, is incapable of deceit. As for me, I am greatly astonished at those who think that the prophet has made these prophecies on the subject of the return from Babylon; for they should have considered that the prophetic text has clearly proclaimed in advance that the salvation of God would be evident for all people, whereas this return [from exile] was not evident for all, while the cross of the Savior and the sufferings of the Master have reached even to the ends of the earth.

"And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." Because by "all flesh" is meant every person, not every person was able to see the salvation of God, namely Christ, in this life. Where then does the prophet direct the eye of prophecy in this statement except to the day of the last judgment? When, with the heavens opened, angels ministering, apostles seated alongside, Christ shall appear on the throne of His majesty, all—both the elect and the reprobate alike—will see Him, so that the just may rejoice without end in the gift of recompense, and the unjust may groan perpetually in the vengeance of punishment.

He shows the utility of the preparation: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, that is, the Son: I will cure them: and I will reveal to them the prayer of peace (Jer 33:6); all flesh together shall see, that is, he will make himself visible to all, or he speaks of the day of judgment: every eye shall see him: and they also that pierced him (Rev 1:7). Others explain: the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, in the destruction of the Chaldees, through which he will appear glorious.

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.

"The salvation of our God" - These words are added here by the Septuagint: το σωτηριον του Θεου, את ישועת אלהינו eth yesuath Eloheynu, as it is in the parallel place, Isa 52:10. The sentence is abrupt without it, the verb wanting its object; and I think it is genuine. Our English translation has supplied the word it, which is equivalent to this addition, from the Septuagint. This omission in the Hebrew text is ancient, being prior to the Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate Versions: but the words stand in all the copies of the Septuagint, and they are acknowledged by Luke, Luk 3:6. The whole of this verse is wanting in one of my oldest MSS.

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).

see it--The Septuagint for "it," has "the salvation of God." So Luk 3:6 (compare Luk 2:30, that is, Messiah); but the Evangelist probably took these words from Isa 52:10. for--rather, "All flesh shall see that the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it" [BENGEL].

The cry of the crier proceeds thus in Isa 40:5 : "And the glory of Jehovah will be revealed, and all flesh seeth together: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." The pret. cons. קנגלה is here apodosis imper. When the way is prepared for Jehovah the Coming One, the glory of the God of salvation will unveil itself (on the name Jehovah, which is applied to God, the absolute I, as living and revealing Himself in history, more especially in the history of salvation). His parousia is the revelation of His glory (Pe1 4:13). This revelation is made for the good of Israel, but not secretly or exclusively; for all the human race, called here designedly "all flesh" (kol bâsâr), will come to see it (compare Luk 3:6, "the salvation of God"). Man, because he is flesh, cannot see God without dying (Exo 33:20); but the future will fill up this gulf of separation. The object to the verb "see" is not what follows, as Rosenmller supposes, viz., "that the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken," for the word of promise which is here fulfilled is not one addressed to all flesh; nor does it mean, "see that Jehovah hath spoken with His own mouth," i.e., after having become man, as Stier maintains, for the verb required in this case would be מדבּר, not דּבּר. The clause, "for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it," is rather Isaiah's usual confirmation of the foregoing prophecy. Here the crier uses it to establish the certainty of what he foretells, provided that Israel will do what he summons it to perform.