Isaiah 40:26 Kommentar

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.

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel,.... The Jews, supposed to be in captivity, are here meant, according to Jarchi and Kimchi; whom the prophet reproves, for murmuring at the calamities and afflictions there endured by them; but it may be the church and people of God, in Gospel times, are here intended, being under suffering circumstances, either under Rome Pagan, or Rome Papal; not only inwardly repining, but openly complaining and uttering, as follows: my way is hid from the Lord; meaning not their course of life, or their religious actions, their profession of the Gospel, their attendance on public worship, their prayers and other duties of religion; but their sufferings for his name's sake, the tribulations they endured, the afflicted way they walked in, which they imagined God took no notice of, since no way was opened in Providence for their deliverance out of them: and my judgment is passed over from my God; my cause and case are neglected by him; he does not undertake my cause, nor plead it against my enemies, or right my wrongs, and avenge the injuries done me, or deliver me out of the hands of those that contend with me. The answer to which complaint follows, and which clearly shows there was no just foundation for it.

"Lift up your eyes" occurs in many places in Scripture when the divine Word admonishes us to exalt and lift up our thoughts, to elevate the insight that lies below in a rather sickly condition, and is stooped and completely incapable of looking up, as it is written, for instance, in Isaiah: "Lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has made all these things known?"

(Vers. 21 seqq.) Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? He sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He spreads out the heavens like nothing, and expands them as a tent to dwell in. He makes secret things known as if they were not. He has made the rulers of the earth as nothing. They are not planted, nor are they sown, nor do their roots take hold in the earth. He blows on them and they wither, and the whirlwind carries them away like stubble. And to whom have you compared me and made me equal? says the Lord. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things: he who brings out their host by number, and calls them all by name. Because of his great power and strength, and because his power has no end. LXX: Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundation of the earth? He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He who sets the heavens like a tent and stretches them like a dwelling place. He who makes princes rule for nothing, and reduces the earth to nothing. For they shall not be planted, nor shall they be sown, nor shall their root be established in the earth. He blows upon them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like straw. So now to whom will you compare me? Or how am I equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who leads according to his ordered number, he will call all by name, from much glory and in the strength of fortitude: nothing escapes you. From the beginning, he said, I have taught you by the natural law, and afterwards I have testified through the written law of Moses, what idols are nothing, and that the Creator of the world himself is God, who has founded such a great mass of land upon the seas, and has placed it upon the rivers: so that the heaviest element hangs by the will of God upon the thin waters, who sits as a king upon the circumference of the earth: from which some contend that it is like a dot and a globe, and its inhabitants like locusts. For if we consider the various nations in the whole world, from the Ocean to the Ocean, that is, from the Indian sea to the British, and from the Atlantic to the harshness of the North, where the waters freeze and beautiful amber grows, we see that the entire human race dwells in the middle like locusts. So why does the earth and ash boast? Because the heavens, indeed, as I will use the authority of the Scriptures, are stretched out like a chamber; or, as it is contained in Hebrew, like a tent, of which we have spoken above: for which the LXX interpreted it as saliva there: and one word now translated as spit, now as chamber, that is, a vault; and its width extends above them like a tent and a canopy, so as to cover people like a roof and make them dwell as if in a very large house. Why should we be surprised if the small bodies of humans are considered like locusts and tiny creatures? Again, in this place, they argue that the semicircle is close to the earth (or rather, the heavens), and they claim that the sky is similar to a sphere. They use the term 'arch' because the middle part of the sphere covers the earth: when in Hebrew, we read not 'arch' but 'dust', that is, very fine powder. For the saliva that is thrown onto the ground and mixes with the dust and disappears, shows that the magnitude of all bodies should be regarded as nothing. But he who stretched out the heavens and spread them out, so that either above could dwell the multitude of angels, or below could dwell human beings, and as if he created a great house for reasonable creatures, he himself established princes according to the quality of the times, whether as secret scrutineers, so that they may be as if they are not; and he made judges of the earth as if they were nothing. For this reason, the Seventy translated it, but they translated the earth as if it were nothing; indeed, in the beginning of Genesis where it is written, 'But the earth was invisible and unfinished' (Gen. 1:1), others translated it as, 'But the earth was empty and nothing.' How many kings, both Greek and Barbarian, does Roman history narrate! Where is that countless army of Xerxes? Where is the multitude of Israel in the desert? Where is the incredible power of kings? What about the ancient ones? Let present examples teach us, that princes are considered as nothing, and rulers of the earth as empty. Those princes and rulers of the earth (or, as others suspect, of heaven) are neither satisfied, nor established, nor firmly rooted, and by the sudden command of God they are taken away and perish, as straw is carried away by the whirlwind and storm; according to what is written: 'I passed by, and he was not there; I sought him, and his place was not found' (Ps. XXXVI, 36). So with such great power and majesty of the Creator, how can you compare God to the likeness of a creature? And do you not rather understand the Creator from the magnitude of the creatures? If you do not believe in words, believe at least in your own eyes; and consider the power of the Lord from the service of the heavens and all the elements. He summons their army, that is, the heavens, in number; and he calls them all by name, and it is understood, the stars. Of which it is also sung in the Psalms: He counts the multitude of the stars: and he calls them all by name (Ps. 46:4). Whether we interpret the hosts of heaven as the army of angels and all the heavenly hosts of which Daniel speaks: Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him (Dan. VII, 10). Hence the Lord of hosts is called, which in our language is called the Lord of armies and forces, or powers. He brings forth his host according to the number of the heavens: so that the sun, and the moon, and the other stars, which Abraham could not number, are numbered by Him, and serve the assigned function (Gen. XV): while the same course of the heavens is completed by the sun in one year, by the morning star and the evening star in two years, by the moon in each month, and all the stars follow their appointed times, and some of them are called wandering, and we see their movements with our eyes, not with our minds, nor do we understand them as much as we marvel at them. For the magnitude of God's strength makes all things serve in its own order. Whether according to the Seventy, by the multitude of his glory and the power of his virtue, nothing can escape him; but he knows all the ways, plans, and courses of the Creator by his majesty.

Since so great is the power and majesty of the Creator, to which likeness do you compare God, thus failing to understand the founder from the greatness of creation? If you do not believe the words, at least believe your eyes and recognize the power of the Lord from the service all heavens and elements give him, who “leads out their army by number,” that is, the heavens, about which in the psalms it says, “Who numbers the host of stars and calls them all by name.” Or we can call the army of heaven angels and all the companies of heaven.… For the greatness of the strength of God made all to serve him in order … but he knows their way and reasons and course in his majesty as the Creator.

He says, look at the sun, the moon, the movement of the stars, the cycle of the year, the changing of the seasons, the regular succession of night and day. For this is what he has added: “He who brings forth by number the order of the cosmos.” For He calls the setting in order of creation “the cosmos.” “He shall call them all by names.” He is ignorant of nothing, he says, but He knows all things with clarity, since it is He who has given a name equally to each and everything. “By means of the greatness of Your glory and by the power of Your might nothing has escaped You.” He has power above all, He is able to do all, He is ignorant of nothing that exits and He knows the very thoughts of men. (Theodoret of Cyrus) God, whose knowledge is simply manifold, and uniform in its variety, comprehends all incomprehensibles with so incomprehensible a comprehension, that though He willed always to make His later works novel and unlike what went before them, He could not produce them without order and foresight, nor conceive them suddenly, but by His eternal foreknowledge. (St. Augustine City of God)

[Isaiah] says, look at the sun, the moon, the movement of the stars, the cycle of the year, the changing of the seasons, the regular succession of night and day. For this is what [Isaiah] has added: “He who brings forth by number the order of the cosmos.” For he calls the setting in order of creation “the cosmos.” “He shall call them by names.” He is ignorant of nothing, [Isaiah] says, but he knows all things with clarity, since it is he who has given a name equally to each and every thing. “By means of the greatness of [your] glory and by the power of [your] might nothing has escaped you.” He has power above all, he is able [to do] all, he is ignorant of nothing that exists, and he knows the very thoughts of people.

Do not think that I ignore the designs of your souls, God says through Isaiah, and do not believe that you escape my view when you hold perverse reasonings. This passage lets [us] see clearly that he has also thrown the accusation of polytheism against Israel itself.

Lift up your eyes. Here he establishes the same divine power against those who despair. And first, he establishes divine majesty from the creation of things: who has created these things, namely, heavenly things: he spoke, and they were made (Ps 148:5); from the perfection of his knowledge: who brings out, to fulfill his will, in number, determined in his knowledge, their host, namely, the stars or angels of the heavens, and calls them all by their names, determining for each its proper nature, from which it can be named: who tells the number of the stars: and calls them all by their names (Ps 147:4); from the fullness of his dominion: by the greatness of his might, for fighting, and strength, for resisting, and power, for working; not one of them was missing, from his dominion: is there any numbering of his soldiers? (Job 25:3).

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.

Left up your eyes on high - The rabbins say, He who is capable of meditating on the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and does not meditate on them, is not worthy to have his name mentioned among men.

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).

bringeth out . . . host--image from a general reviewing his army: He is Lord of Sabaoth, the heavenly hosts (Job 38:32). calleth . . . by names--numerous as the stars are. God knows each in all its distinguishing characteristics--a sense which "name" often bears in Scripture; so in Gen 2:19-20, Adam, as God's vicegerent, called the beasts by name, that is, characterized them by their several qualities, which, indeed, He has imparted. by the greatness . . . faileth--rather, "by reason of abundance of (their inner essential) force and firmness of strength, not one of them is driven astray"; referring to the sufficiency of the physical forces with which He has endowed the heavenly bodies, to prevent all disorder in their motions [HORSLEY]. In English Version the sense is, "He has endowed them with their peculiar attributes ('names') by the greatness of His might," and the power of His strength (the better rendering, instead of, "for that He is strong").

After the questions in Isa 40:18 and Isa 40:25, which close syllogistically, a third start is made, to demonstrate the incomparable nature of Jehovah. "Lift up your eyes on high, and see: who hath created these things? It is He who bringeth out their host by number, calleth them all by names, because of the greatness of (His) might, and as being strong in power: there is not one that is missing." Jehovah spoke in Isa 40:25; now the prophet speaks again. We have here the same interchange which occurs in every prophetic book from Deuteronomy downwards, and in which the divine fulness of the prophets is displayed. The answer does not begin with המּוציא, in the sense of "He who brings them out has created them;" but the participle is the predicate to the subject of which the prophet's soul is full: Jehovah, it is He who brings out the army of stars upon the plane of heaven, as a general leads out his army upon the field of battle, and that bemispâr, by number, counting the innumerable stars, those children of light in armour of light, which meet the eye as it looks up by night. The finite verb יקרא denotes that which takes place every night. He calls them all by name (comp. the derivative passage, Psa 147:4): this He does on account of the greatness and fulness of His might ('ōnı̄m, vires, virtus), and as strong in power, i.e., because He is so. This explanation is simpler than Ewald's (293, c), viz., "because of the power (τὸ κρατερὸν) of the Strong One." The call addressed to the stars that are to rise is the call of the Almighty, and therefore not one of all the innumerable host remains behind. אישׁ individualizes; נעדּר (participle), as in Isa 34:16, suggests the idea of a sheep that is missed from the flock through staying behind. The second part of the address closes here, having demonstrated the folly of idolatry from the infinite superiority of God; and from this the third part deduces consolation for Israel in the midst of its despair.