Isaiah 40:2

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,.... Or, "speak to or according to the heart of Jerusalem (h)"; to her very heart, what will be a cordial to her, very acceptable, grateful, and

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

Cry unto her; proclaim it in my name. Her warfare; the time of her servitude, and captivity, and misery. Her iniquity is pardoned; I am reconciled to her; I will not impute sin to her, to punish her any longer for it. Double for all her sins; not twice as much as her sins deserved, for she herself confessed the contrary, ; but abundantly enough to answer God’ s design in this chastisement, which was to humble and reform them, and to warn others by their example. Double is oft put for abundantly, as 17:18. God here speaks of himself after the manner of men, and compareth himself to a tender-hearted father, who when he hath corrected his child for his misdemeanour, relenteth and repenteth of his severity, and casteth his rod away.

Isaiah 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’ S hand double for all her sins.Ver. 2. Speak ye comfortably.] Speak to the heart, as Genesis 34:3 Hosea 2:14. Cheer her up, speak to her with utmost earnestness, that your words may work upon her and stick-by her; do it solidly, not frigidly. That her warfare is accomplished.] Militiam, not malitiam, as the Vulgate hath it; the word signifieth also a set term of time. See Daniel 9:2 Galatians 4:4. God hath limited the saints’ sufferings. Some by warfare here understand that hard and troublesome pedagogy of Moses’ law, that yoke importable, taken away by Christ. That her iniquity is pardoned.] Heb., Her iniquity is accepted: perfectam esse poenam eius, so Piscator rendereth it. She might be under God’ s hand, though her sins were pardoned. The palsyman heard, "Son, thy sins are forgiven thee," some while before he heard, "Take up thy bed and walk." That she hath received of the Lord’ s hand double,] i.e., Abundantly and in a large measure, satis superque, so much as to her merciful Father seemeth over and above, more than enough. "She hath received double for all her sins": and yet death is the just hire of the least sin. But this is the language of God’ s compassions rolled together and kindled into repentings; Jerusalem herself was of another judgment. "Our God hath punished us less than our sins," and yet he reckoneth that we "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ."

(2) Speak ye comfortably . . .—Literally, Speak ye to the heart. The command is addressed to the prophets whom Isaiah contemplates as working towards the close of the exile, and carrying on his work. In Haggai 1:13, Haggai 2:9, and Zechariah 1:13; Zechariah 2:5-10; Zechariah 9:9-12, we may rightly trace the influence of the words as working out their own fulfilment. That her warfare is accomplished.—The time of war, with all its suffering, becomes the symbol of sufferings apart from actual war. The exile was one long campaign with enemies who were worse than the Babylonian conquerors. In Job 7:1; Job 14:14, the word is applied (rendered by “appointed time”) to the battle of life from its beginning to its end. This, too, may be noted as one of the many parallelisms between Isaiah and Job. That her iniquity is pardoned.—Strictly, as in Leviticus 26:41; Leviticus 26:43, is paid off, or accepted. The word implies not exemption from punishment, but the fact that the punishment had been accepted, and had done its work. She hath received of the Lord’s hand . . .—Primarily, the thought is that Jerusalem has suffered a more than sufficient penalty. (Comp. Exodus 22:9; Revelation 18:6.) This seems more in harmony with the context than the view which takes the meaning that Jerusalem shall receive a double measure of grace and favour. In the long run, however, the one meaning does not exclude the other. It is the mercy of Jehovah which reckons the punishment sufficient, because it has been “accepted” (Leviticus 26:41), and has done its work. (Comp. Jeremiah 16:18.)

Verse 2. Double for all her sins - "Blessings double to the punishment."] It does not seem reconcilable to our notions of the Divine justice, which always punishes less than our iniquities deserve, to suppose that God had punished the sins of the Jews in double proportion; and it is more agreeable to the tenor of this consolatory message to understand it as a promise of ample recompense for the effects of past displeasure, on the reconciliation of God to his returning people. To express this sense of the passage, which the words of the original will very well bear, it was necessary to add a word or two in the version to supply the elliptical expression of the Hebrew. Compare Isaiah 61:7; Job 42:10; Zechariah 9:12. חטאה chattaah signifies punishment for sin, Lamentations 3:39; Zechariah 14:19. But Kimchi says, "Double here means the two captivities and emigrations suffered by the Israelites. The first, the Babylonish captivity; the second, that which they now endure." This is not a bad conjecture.

2. speak ye comfortably to] Lit. “speak to the heart of.” To “speak to one’s own heart” is to whisper or meditate (1 Samuel 1:13); to speak to the heart of another is to soothe, or persuade, or comfort. For the meaning of the phrase, see Genesis 34:3; Judges 19:3; 2 Samuel 19:7; Hosea 2:14; and esp. Genesis 50:21; and Rth 2:13, where it is parallel to “comfort” as here. Jerusalem] an ideal representation of the people, like Zion in Isaiah 40:9; cf. Isaiah 49:14 ff., Isaiah 51:16 f., Isaiah 52:1 ff. Isaiah 52:7 ff. That there was an actual population in the ruined city during the Exile is of course not to be inferred from this figure. There are two standing personifications of Israel in this prophecy, the other being the “Servant of the Lord.” These, however, are not interchangeable; Zion represents the nation on its receptive side; she is the mother of the people, the recipient of the blessings of salvation; while the Servant represents the historic Israel, past, present and future, in its religious aspect, with a Divine mission to fulfil for humanity. her warfare is accomplished] The word for “warfare” is that rendered “appointed time” in A.V. of Job 7:1; Job 14:14. It means properly a term of military service; then figuratively any period of irksome toil or endurance which a man longs to reach the end of; such as life itself had become to Job. The reference here is of course to the Exile. Render: time of service (R.V. marg.). her iniquity (better, her guilt) is pardoned] The expression for pardon is rare. The verb commonly means “to be pleased with”; in a few places it means (as here) “to pay off a debt to the satisfaction of the creditor” (see Leviticus 26:34; Leviticus 26:41; Leviticus 26:43, and cf. 2 Chronicles 36:21). For the idea see ch. Isaiah 50:1. for she hath received … double] i.e. “double penalty for her sins” (cf. Jeremiah 16:18; Jeremiah 17:18; Revelation 18:6), not “(she shall receive) double favour for her previous punishment.” It is difficult to say whether the clause is subordinate to the two preceding (as in A.V.) or co-ordinate with them, as in R.V. (reading that instead of for). The idea that Jerusalem’s punishment had been greater than her sin required is not to be pressed theologically; but the idea that Jehovah’s penal purpose can be satisfied by a temporary chastisement is of the essence of the O.T. notion of forgiveness. It must be remembered, however, that in the view of this prophet, Israel includes the Servant of Jehovah, and the unmerited sufferings of the Servant form the atoning element in the punishment which has fallen on the nation as a whole (ch. 53).

Speak ye comfortably - Hebrew, על־לב ‛al-lēb as in the margin, ‘To the heart.’ The heart is the seat of the affections. It is there that sorrow and joy are felt.

2. Speak… comfortably — That is, carry the message in the tenderest way to the very heart. This is a thrice-told charge, rendering the meaning still more intense. Jerusalem — Another name for God’s beloved Zion or people.