Isaiah 40:4

Isaiah 40:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
• New International Version (NIV)Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth;

Context of Isaiah 40:4

2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.” 3A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain. 5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. 6A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.

Isaiah 40:4 word by word

כָּל־גֶּיא֙ יִנָּשֵׂ֔א וְכָל־הַ֥ר וְגִבְעָ֖ה יִשְׁפָּ֑לוּ וְהָיָ֤ה הֶֽעָקֹב֙ לְמִישׁ֔וֹר וְהָרְכָסִ֖ים לְבִקְעָֽה׃Read the interlinear

• Everyכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• valleyגַּיְאgay' gay · valleyH1516
• shall be lifted upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: raiseH5375
• mountainהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
• and hillגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
• made lowשָׁפֵלshâphêl · to abaseH8213
• the unevenעָקֹב‛âqôb · steepH6121
• will becomeהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• smoothמִישׁוֹרmîyshôr mîyshôr · plainH4334
• and the rugged landרֶ֫כֶסrekes · roughnessH7406
• a plainבִּקְעָהbiq‛âh · valleyH1237

Cross-references for Isaiah 40:4

• Isaiah 42:11Let the desert and its cities raise their voices; let the villages of Kedar cry aloud. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.
• 1 Samuel 2:8He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
• Psalms 113:7He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
• Ezekiel 17:24Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”
• Ezekiel 21:26This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Remove the turban, and take off the crown. Things will not remain as they are: Exalt the lowly and bring low the exalted.
• Luke 1:52He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.
• Luke 3:5Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.
• Luke 18:14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
• Isaiah 2:12For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted— it will be humbled—
• Job 40:11Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low.
• Isaiah 42:16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
• Isaiah 45:2“I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.
• Proverbs 2:15whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.

Commentaries on Isaiah 40:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Crooked - The word עקב akob is very generally rendered crooked: but this sense of the word seems not to be supported by any good authority. Ludolphus, Comment. ad Hist. Aethiop. p. 206, says "that in the Ethiopia language it signifies clivus, locus editus:" and so the Syriac Version renders it in this place, ערמא arama : Hebrew, ערמה aramah, tumulus, acervus. Thus the parallelism would be more perfect:" the hilly country shall be made level, and the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Every valley shall be exalted - That is, every valley, or low piece of ground, shall be filled up so as to make a level highway, as was done in order to facilitate the march of armies. This verse is evidently designed to explain what is intended in Isaiah 40:3, by preparing the way for Yahweh. Applied to the return of the Jews from Babylon, it means simply that the impassable valleys were to be filled up so as to make a level road for their journey. If…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-5There is now a shift from announcing the good news to expecting God's arrival. The good news (Isaiah 40:1–2) is based on God himself. Isaiah described the Lord as coming on a highway through the desert (see Isaiah 35). However, the imagery is reversed here: In Isaiah 35, the people traveled to Zion, toward the Lord. Here, the Lord is coming toward his people (see also Isaiah 52:8, where both images are combined).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Eastern monarchs send heralds before them in a journey to clear away obstacles, make causeways over valleys, and level hills. So John's duty was to bring back the people to obedience to the law and to remove all self-confidence, pride in national privileges, hypocrisy, and irreligion, so that they should be ready for His coming (Mal 4:6; Lu 1:17). crooked--declivities.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 40:4

• Church
• Gentiles
• Highways
• Prophecy
• Quotations and Allusions
• Readings, Select
• Straight

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Carry
• Cry
• Feed
• Plain
• Renew
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah (2)
• John, Gospel of
• Leviticus

Commentaries on Isaiah 40

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings