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Isaiah 40:1-11
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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Hebrew Interlinear Bible, WLCv, WLC5, CHES, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NRSV, RSV, NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Hebrew text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • Chapter XXXIV of The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Clement of Rome (ca. 96).
  • Chapter L, Dialogue With Trypho, Justin Martyr. (c 160)
  • V.XXXIII.4, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
  • Chapter IX, Adversus Judaeos, Tertullian (c. 198)
  • Chapter VI, On Baptism,  Tertullian (c. 198)
  • Chapter I, Exhortation to the Greeks, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • I.5, Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • III.17, IV.22, IV.26, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • IV.13, IV.33, IV.39, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 210)
  • Chapter XXXII, Against the Valentinians, Tertullian (c. 210)
  • Chapter X, Chapter LIX, On the Resurrection of the Flesh,  Tertullian (c. 211)
  • V.2, V.4, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 212)
  • VIII.VII, The Refutation of all Heresies (Philosophumena), Hippolytus of Rome. (c. 225)
  • I.11, II.25, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Origen. (c.228)
  • VI.14, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Philocalia [anthology of Origen prepared by St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen], Origen. (c.230)
  • XI.3, XI.19, XIII.30, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen. (c.247)
  • On the Dress of Virgins, Cyprian of Carthage (c. 249)
  • Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org.
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "This is a consolation for the Church, assuring them that they will never be destitute of prophets by which he exhorts the true ministers of God that then were, and those also that would come after him, to comfort the poor afflicted and to assure them of their deliverance both of body and soul."
  • From Matthew Henry's 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."
  • From Wesley's Notes.
    • "The prophet having now foretold the Babylonish captivity, chap.39:6,7, does here arm his people against it by the consideration of their certain deliverance out of it, and their blessed condition after it, as in other things so especially in the coming of the Messiah, and the great and glorious privileges conferred upon God's church and people in his days."
  • "Comfort Proclaimed; Isaiah 40:1," Charles H. Spurgeon, 1858.
    • "While nations and kindreds are passed by as being simply nations, he says of them "My people." In this word there is the idea of proprietorship to teach us that we are the property of God."
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "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."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Isaiah 40:1-11, Corrine Carvalho, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2017.
    • "What an interesting array of metaphors in this pivotal text."
  • Pulpit Fiction, plus podcast. Reflections of lectionary text, pop culture, current events, etc. Robb Mc Coy and Eric Fistler, 2017.
  • Prophets, 5 Minute Bible Podcast, Tim Bulkeley, 2015.
  • Commentary, Isaiah 40:1-11, Kristin J. Wendland, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.
    • "The message given is confident and hopeful, "Here is your God!" Here is a God who comes to feed the flock, to gather the lambs, to lead the mother sheep -- to bring comfort. Here is God in whom one may have hope."
  • "Voices Crying Out: Comfort and Transformation in an Age of Mass Incarceration," David Garber, ON Scripture, Odyssey Networks, 2014. Video: "A Life Behind Bars: Transformation through Education."
    • "How might Christians raise awareness of different forms of exile in our nation and world?"
  • "People are like grass," David JM Coleman, youtube video rethinking Isaiah 40.
  • "The Unbreakable Love of YHWH," John C. Holbert, Opening the Old Testament, 2014.
    • "God comforts us in order that we may at long last become what God wanted us to be from the beginning."
  • Pulpit Fiction, plus podcast. Reflections of lectionary text, pop culture, current events, etc. Robb Mc Coy and Eric Fistler, 2014.
  • "Making Straight Paths for the Messiah," Steve Godfrey, Church in the World, 2014.
  • "The Kingdom? Here?" Beth Scibienski, 2014.
  • "Peace on Earth," Alan Brehm, The Waking Dreamer.
    • "It's God's peace on earth that is the promise of Advent. It's God's good will toward the human family that Christmas is talking about."
  • Commentary, Isaiah 40:1-11, Elna K. Solvang, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
    • "The passage begins with an insistent double imperative: Comfort! Comfort!"
  • "Going round and round," Fr. Rick Morley, a garden path, 2011.
  • Commentary, Isaiah 40:1-11, Samuel Giere, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
    • "With these opening words of Second Isaiah (chapters 40-55), the prophet offers a balm for the festering wounds of exile."
  • Isaiah 40:1-11, Studies on Old Testament texts from Series B, Ralph W. Klein, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
  • Isaiah 40:1-11, Advent 2B, Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • The Old Testament Readings: Isaiah 40:1-11. Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary,, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church,
    • "As we move through Advent we await the coming of the Lord in the person of the baby Jesus. It is not just a period of waiting for an anniversary to come around, but it affords us time to reflect on the nature of the one who comes to us."
  • "Straight Highways," Rev. Todd Weir, bloomingcactus.
    • "The King?s Road, which connected Heliopolis (modern Cairo) to Damascus, literally put Israel on the map as spices, gold, textiles and olive oil flowed through the great caravans.  Unfortunately, armies traveled the highway as well, as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and Rome all coveted the strategic dominance that came with subduing Palestine.  It was a perilous and wondrous journey that traversed the Sinai desert, wound through the ravines of Petra and across mountain ranges, fighting heat, thirst, stubborn camels and bandits along the way."
  • "Close to His Heart: Tenderness," The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation, 2006.
  • "Isaiah 40 in Babylon," Tim Bulkeley, 5 Minute Bible (podcast).
  • Isaiah 40:1-11, Isaiah in Advent: The Transforming Word, Diane Jacobson, Texts in Context, Word & World, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, 1990.
    • "This call does not deny the world. But, the voice concludes, reality consists of more than what plain sight and common sense can perceive."
  • "Prepare the Way of the Lord," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
  • The Turn Toward Hope: Verse Commentary on Isaiah 40:1-15, Dennis Bratcher, Christian Resource Institute.
    • "The message here is not that the Israelites have simply paid a debt and therefore deserve pardon. The intention is that God views the suffering of the exiles as an acceptable sacrifice. The nation justly deserved the punishment. God had no obligation to do anything more. It was by His gracious choice that He willingly accepted their suffering as atonement for their iniquity and by that offered pardon. He has simply said, "It is enough.""
  • "Announcement: Freedom and Return!" Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A Lectionary Resource for Catholics.
    • "How do you plan to turn away from the self this Advent? And turn toward God?"
  • "Comfort For God's People: Behold Your God (Isaiah 40)," by Hampton Keathley III at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
    • "So the theme of verses 3-8 is PREPARATION, the preparation necessary for God?s people to experience the Lord, first in His comfort now, and ultimately in His personal coming."
  • Isaiah 40:1-11, Nativity of John, Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
• Recommended articles from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are linked below. ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices.Annotated list of "starting place" articles at ATLAS for this week's texts (includes direct links).
  • Cody, Aelred, O.S.B., "A Palindrome in Isaiah 40;4b: Allowing Restoration of an Original Reading," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2004.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Davies, Andrew, "Oratorio as Exegesis: The Use of the Book of Isaiah in Handel's Messiah," Biblical Interpretation, 2007.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Geller, Stephen A., "A Poetic Analysis of Isaiah 40:1-2," Harvard Theological Review, 1984.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Golding, Thomas A., "The Imagery of Shepherding in the Bible, Part 1," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2006. Part 2.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Golding, Thomas A., "The Imagery of Shepherding in the Bible, Part 2," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Jacobson, Diane, "Isaiah in Advent: The Transforming Word," Word & World, 1990.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Keiser, Thomas A., "The Song of Moses as a Basis for Isaiah's Prophecy," Vetus Testamentum, 2005.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Landy, Francis, "The Ghostly Prelude to Deutero-Isaiah," Biblical Interpretation, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Limburg, James, "An Exposition of Isaiah 40:1-11," Interpretation, 1975.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • McDaniel, Judith M., "Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room," The Living Pulpit, 1997.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Montgomery, Stephen R., "Beyond Fear, Fundamentalism, and Fox News: The Active Hope of Advent," Journal for Preachers, 2005.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Russell, Keith, "A Time for Repentance," The Living Pulpit, 1997.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Seitz, Christopher R., "The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1990.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Snodgrass, Klyne, "Streams of Tradition Emerging from Isaiah 40:1-5 and their Adaptation in the New Testament," Journal of the Study of the New Testament, 1980.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Tidwell, Neville, "The Cultic Background of Isaiah 40:1-11," Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, 1973.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Van Seters, Arthur, "Isaiah 40:1-11," Interpretation, 1981.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
• Sermons:
  • God's Call, Janice Scott, The Village Shepherd.
  • "Our Patience, God's Peace," the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Carter, Day 1, 2008.
  • "Permanence and Change," "The Miracle of Comfort," Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.
• Reviews:
  • Reviews: Peter Damian Akpunonu, The Overture of the Book of Consolations: (Isaiah 40:1-11). Peter Lang, 2004. Reviews by Jacques Vermeylen and James Kennedy, Review of Biblical Literature.
  • Review: Jim W. Adams, The Performative Nature and Function of Isaiah 40-55. T&T Clark, 2006. Review by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, Review of Biblical Literature, 2008.
• With Children:
  • Worshiping with Children, Advent 2B, Including children in the congregation's worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2014. 2011.
  • "Storypath Lectionary Links: Connecting Children's Literature with our Faith Story," December 7, 2014, Union Presbyterian Seminary. Connections: Isaiah 40:1-11 and Come on, Rain! by Karen Hesse, 2 Peter 3:8-15a and Just a Second by Steve Jenkins, Mark 1:1-8 and The Doorbell Rings by Pat Hutchins. 2011.
  • "Your Slavery Is Past," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
  • "Prepare the Way," Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com.
• Drama:
• Liturgy and Worship:
  • "A Voice Cries Out...: Creative Approaches to Selected Scripture Readings for Advent," Douglas Macomber, Reformed Worship.
• Graphics, Multimedia & Bulletin Materials:
• Hymns and Music:
  • Hymnary.org, hymns, scores, media, information.
  • Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Isaiah 40:1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11. The Cyber Hymnal.
  • Hymn Selections, The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship.
  • "Comfort, Comfort, Comfort My People," lyrics, midi, sheet music, mp3. Stephen J. Pearson, The Psalmistry.
  • At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke files, projection text):
    • Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
    • O Zion, Haste
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • Isaiah
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Isaiah

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