Isaiah 40:1

King James Version (KJV)

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Comfort ye, comfort ye - "The whole of this prophecy," says Kimchi, "belongs to the days of the Messiah."

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people - This is the exordium, or the general subject of this and the following chapters. The commencement is abrupt, as often happens in Isaiah and the other prophets. The scene where this vision is laid is in Babylon; the time near the close of the captivity. The topic, or main subject of the consolation, is stated in the following verse - that that captivity was about to end, and that brighter and happier days were to succeed their calamities and their exile. The exhortation to ‹comfort‘ the people is to be understood as a command of God to those in Babylon whose office or duty it would be to address them - that is, to the ministers of religion, or to the prophets. The Targum of Jonathan thus renders it: ‹Ye prophets, prophesy consolations concerning my people.‘ The Septuagint renders it, ‹Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith God. O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her.‘ The design of Isaiah is doubtless to furnish that which should be to them a source of consolation when amidst the deep distress of their long captivity; to furnish an assurance that the captivity was about to end, and that brighter and happier times were to ensue.

The exhortation or command is repeated, to give intensity or emphasis to it, in the usual manner in Hebrew, where emphasis is denoted by the repetition of a word. The word rendered ‹comfort‘ (from נחם nâcham ) means properly to draw the breath forcibly, to sigh, pant, groan; then to lament, or grieve Psalm 90:13; Jeremiah 15:6; then to comfort or console one‘s-self Genesis 38:12. then to take vengeance (compare the note at Isaiah 1:24). All the forms of the word, and all the significations, indicate deep emotion, and the obtaining of relief either by repenting, or by taking vengeance, or by administering the proper topics of consolation. Here the topic of consolation is, that their calamities were about to come to an end, in accordance with the unchanging promises of a faithful God Isaiah 40:8, and is thus in accordance with what is said in Hebrews 6:17-18.

My people - The people of God. He regarded those in Babylon as his people; and he designed also to adduce such topics of consolation as would be adapted to comfort all his people in all ages.

Saith your God - The God of those whom he addressed - the God of the prophets or ministers of religion whose office was to comfort the people. We may remark here, that it is an important part of the ministerial office to administer consolation to the people of God in affiction; to exhibit to them his promises; to urge the topics of religion which are adapted to sustain them; and especially to uphold and cheer them with the assurance that their trials will soon come to an end, and will all terminate in complete deliverance from sorrow and calamity in heaven.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

All human life is a warfare; the Christian life is the most so; but the struggle will not last always. Troubles are removed in love, when sin is pardoned. In the great atonement of the death of Christ, the mercy of God is exercised to the glory of his justice. In Christ, and his sufferings, true penitents receive of the Lord's hand double for all their sins; for the satisfaction Christ made by his death was of infinite value. The prophet had some reference to the return of the Jews from Babylon. But this is a small event, compared with that pointed out by the Holy Ghost in the New Testament, when John the Baptist proclaimed the approach of Christ. When eastern princes marched through desert countries, ways were prepared for them, and hinderances removed. And may the Lord prepare our hearts by the teaching of his word and the convictions of his Spirit, that high and proud thoughts may be brought down, good desires planted, crooked and rugged tempers made straight and softened, and every hinderance removed, that we may be ready for his will on earth, and prepared for his heavenly kingdom. What are all that belongs to fallen man, or all that he does, but as the grass and the flower thereof! And what will all the titles and possessions of a dying sinner avail, when they leave him under condemnation! The word of the Lord can do that for us, which all flesh cannot. The glad tidings of the coming of Christ were to be sent forth to the ends of the earth. Satan is the strong man armed; but our Lord Jesus is stronger; and he shall proceed, and do all that he purposes. Christ is the good Shepherd; he shows tender care for young converts, weak believers, and those of a sorrowful spirit. By his word he requires no more service, and by his providence he inflicts no more trouble, than he will strengthen them for. May we know our Shepherd's voice, and follow him, proving ourselves his sheep.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

1. Comfort ye my people. This chapter begins the third and last section of the book of Isaiah. For consideration of the so-called Deutero-Isaiah problem, see pp. 84-86. In many ways chs. 40-66 constitute the most important part of Isaiah’s prophecy. Chapters 1-35 consist largely of a series of denunciations against transgression and pronouncements of judgments to follow. In chs. 36-39 there is a recital of incidents connected with Sennacherib’s invasion, Hezekiah’s illness and recovery, and the visit of the Babylonian envoys. In the chapters that follow, the message of the prophet is entirely different in tone and theme. Pronouncements of judgment and doom are largely in the past, and the remainder of the book deals with promises of the outpouring of God’s grace upon the righteous. It is largely chs. 40-66 that have earned for Isaiah the name of “gospel prophet.” Here, in the most sublime language ever to grace the lips of an inspired orator, Isaiah sets forth the glorious future of Israel as God’s faithful “servant,” her deliverance from every foe, the coming of Messiah, and the establishment of the Messianic kingdom.

The prophet’s mind goes forward to a time when God will be gracious to His people and will grant them the blessings of righteousness and peace.

There are many predictions regarding the coming Messiah, His character and offices, His life, and His self-sacrificing service and death. There are views of the enlargement of the church and of the ingathering of the Gentiles. Also, there are thrilling pictures of the earth restored to Edenic peace and beauty. Throughout this section Israel (that is, the people of Judah, as the northern kingdom no longer existed) appears as the chosen people of God, His “servant,” His “elect,” in whom He “delighteth” (ch. 42:1; etc.).

Danger from Assyria, the chief enemy of Judah in chs. 1-39, was now, for the most part at least, in the past, and through the prophet Isaiah God prepares His people for an even greater calamityâ€”the Babylonian captivity a century later. In the new section beginning with ch. 40 God finds Israel discouraged because of the seeming failure of His purpose for them as a nation, and bids them look forward in faith to the glorious prospect that awaited them upon their return from captivity (see pp. 31, 32).

In the earlier part of the book, Isaiah proclaims a message of rebuke; now he sets before them one of comfort and hope. The previous section deals largely with the unrighteousness of the people; this, with the righteousness of God. Chapters 1-39 are concerned largely with the success of the enemy in drawing God’s people away from their high ideals; chs. 40-66, with the Lord’s success in drawing Israel back to its ideal position as the light and hope of the world. Here is a striking picture of Messiah as God’s Servant, and of men walking in His footsteps and being His witnesses. Here are sublime pictures of God as the hope of His people, and of His people returning to Him and occupying their appointed position as His representatives on earth. Here, they are delivered from the power of Babylon, they reoccupy the Land of Promise, and the waste places of earth become “like the garden of the Lord” (ch. 51:3).

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Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages, 826

In the commission to His disciples, Christ not only outlined their work, but gave them their message. Teach the people, He said, “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” The disciples were to teach what Christ had taught. That which He had spoken, not only in person, but through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament, is here included. Human teaching is shut out. There is no place for tradition, for man's theories and conclusions, or for church legislation. No laws ordained by ecclesiastical authority are included in the commission. None of these are Christ's servants to teach. “The law and the prophets,” with the record of His own words and deeds, are the treasure committed to the disciples to be given to the world. Christ's name is their watchword, their badge of distinction, their bond of union, the authority for their course of action, and the source of their success. Nothing that does not bear His superscription is to be recognized in His kingdom. DA 826.1

The gospel is to be presented, not as a lifeless theory, but as a living force to change the life. God desires that the receivers of His grace shall be witnesses to its power. Those whose course has been most offensive to Him He freely accepts; when they repent, He imparts to them His divine Spirit, places them in the highest positions of trust, and sends them forth into the camp of the disloyal to proclaim His boundless mercy. He would have His servants bear testimony to the fact that through His grace men may possess Christlikeness of character, and may rejoice in the assurance of His great love. He would have us bear testimony to the fact that He cannot be satisfied until the human race are reclaimed and reinstated in their holy privileges as His sons and daughters. DA 826.2

In Christ is the tenderness of the shepherd, the affection of the parent, and the matchless grace of the compassionate Saviour. His blessings He presents in the most alluring terms. He is not content merely to announce these blessings; He presents them in the most attractive way, to excite a desire to possess them. So His servants are to present the riches of the glory of the unspeakable Gift. The wonderful love of Christ will melt and subdue hearts, when the mere reiteration of doctrines would accomplish nothing. “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God.” “O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! ... He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.” Isaiah 40:1, 9-11. Tell the people of Him who is “the Chiefest among ten thousand,” and the One “altogether lovely.” The Song of Solomon 5:10, 16. Words alone cannot tell it. Let it be reflected in the character and manifested in the life. Christ is sitting for His portrait in every disciple. Every one God has predestinated to be “conformed to the image of His Son.” Romans 8:29. In every one Christ's long-suffering love, His holiness, meekness, mercy, and truth are to be manifested to the world. DA 826.3

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Ellen G. White
God's Amazing Grace, 372.1

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. Isaiah 40:1, 2. AG 372.1

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Ellen G. White
Prophets and Kings, 722

In the darkest days of her long conflict with evil, the church of God has been given revelations of the eternal purpose of Jehovah. His people have been permitted to look beyond the trials of the present to the triumphs of the future, when, the warfare having been accomplished, the redeemed will enter into possession of the promised land. These visions of future glory, scenes pictured by the hand of God, should be dear to His church today, when the controversy of the ages is rapidly closing and the promised blessings are soon to be realized in all their fullness. PK 722.1

Many were the messages of comfort given the church by the prophets of old. “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people” (Isaiah 40:1), was Isaiah's commission from God; and with the commission were given wonderful visions that have been the believers’ hope and joy through all the centuries that have followed. Despised of men, persecuted, forsaken, God's children in every age have nevertheless been sustained by His sure promises. By faith they have looked forward to the time when He will fulfill to His church the assurance, “I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.” Isaiah 60:15. PK 722.2

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Ellen G. White
Prophets and Kings, 729

In the visions of the prophet, those who have triumphed over sin and the grave are now seen happy in the presence of their Maker, talking freely with Him as man talked with God in the beginning. “Be ye glad,” the Lord bids them, “and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” PK 729.1

“In the wilderness shall waters break out,
And streams in the desert.
And the parched ground shall become a pool,
And the thirsty land springs of water.” PK 729.2

“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree.” PK 729.3

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