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Jonathan Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 40

1 O you prophets, prophesy comfort to my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and prophesy concerning her, that she will be filled with the people of the captivity, because her sins are forgiven, for she has received the cup of consolations from the LORD as if she had been struck twice for all her sins. 3 A voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way before the people of the LORD; cast up a highway in the plain before the congregation of our God. 4 All the valleys will be raised up, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the rugged ground will become level, and the rough places a valley. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all the sons of flesh will see together, that by the Memra of the LORD it has been so decreed.” 6 The voice of one crying, “Prophesy!” He answered and said, “What will I prophesy? All the wicked are like grass,⁠ and all their strength like the chaff of the field. 7 The grass withers, its flower fades, because the spirit of the LORD blows upon it; surely the wicked among a people are considered like grass. 8 The wicked die, and their thoughts perish; but the word of our God will stand forever.” 9 Get up on a high mountain, O you prophets who bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the cities of the house of Judah, “The kingdom of your God is revealed.”⁠ 10 The Lord GOD will be revealed, and the strength of the arm of His might will rule before Him; the reward of those who perform His word is with Him, because their works are manifest to Him. 11 He will feed those of His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm and carry the tender ones in His bosom; He will gently lead those that give suck. 12 He who has promised these things will confirm them; He has spoken it, and He will do it; He in whose sight all the waters of the world are counted as a drop in the hollow of the hand, and the expanse of the heavens as if prepared with the span, and the dust of the earth as if measured in a measure, and the mountains as if weighed in scales, and the hills in a balance. 13 Who has directed the Holy Spirit in the mouth of all the prophets? Is it not the LORD? He makes known the words of His will to the righteous, the servants of His Memra. 14 I will make known wisdom to those who pray for it from Him, and I will teach them the way of justice; He will give the Torah to their sons, and He will make known to their sons’ sons the path of understanding. 15 The nations are like a drop from a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the balance; the isles are like fine dust that flies away. 16 And the trees of Lebanon are not enough for fire, nor the beasts in it enough for a burnt offering. 17 All nations are like nothing; their works are accounted before Him as nothing. 18 And whom do you think able to contend with God? And what likeness can you compare with Him? 19 The craftsman makes an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and the silversmith fastens it with silver chains. 20 He cuts a wild ash from the forest, which rot will seize; he seeks out a skilled craftsman to set up the image, so that it will not be moved. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has not the work of creation been declared to you in its order from the beginning? Have you not understood that you ought to fear Him who created the foundations of the earth? 22 He makes the Shekinah of His glory dwell in exalted strength, and all the inhabitants of the earth are in His sight like locusts; He stretched out the heavens like a small thing and spread them out like the tent of the glory of the house of the Shekinah. 23 He gives princes over to weakness; the judges of the earth He brings to nothing. 24 Although they multiply, although they increase, although their children become great in the earth, yet He will send His wrath among them, and they will be put to shame, and His Memra will scatter them like the whirlwind the chaff. 25 To whom, then, will you liken me? And to whom will you equal me? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see, that you may fear Him who created these things, who brings forth the host of the heavens by number; He calls them all by their name; because of the combination of forces and the might of His power, not one is missing from its orbit. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my cause is removed from my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard that the everlasting God, the LORD who created the foundations of the earth, does not grow faint or weary? There is no end to His wisdom. 29 He gives wisdom to the righteous who long for the words of the Torah, and to those who have no strength He multiplies strength. 30 And the wicked youths will grow faint and weary, and the impious young men will utterly fall. 31 But those who hope for the salvation of the LORD will be gathered together from the midst of their captivity, and will increase their strength, and their youth will be renewed like the sprout that springs up; they will hasten on the wings of eagles and not be weary; they will walk and not faint.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 40:9 and Mark 1:15 and Jonathan Isaiah 40:9

Hebrew Bible · New Testament · Targum

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Summary

In Mark, Jesus opens his preaching with an announcement that the kingdom of God is drawing near. This may reference an Aramaic tradition also found in the Targum of Isaiah, where an announcement of God's nearness is interpreted as his kingdom.

Passages

Isaiah 40:9

Hebrew Bible
8 The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable.” 9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion. Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! Shout, don’t be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 Look, the Sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; his military power establishes his rule. Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Mark 1:15

New Testament
14 Now after John was imprisoned, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. 15 He said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!” 16 As he went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).
60–75 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mark

Jonathan Isaiah 40:9

Targum
8 The wicked die, and their thoughts perish; but the word of our God will stand forever.” 9 Get up on a high mountain, O you prophets who bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the cities of the house of Judah, “The kingdom of your God is revealed.” 10 The Lord GOD will be revealed, and the strength of the arm of His might will rule before Him; the reward of those who perform His word is with Him, because their works are manifest to Him.
200–300 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonathan Isaiah

References

“... A significant clue to the meaning of η βασιλεια του θεου in Mark may be deduced from the fact that the above verses (1:14, 15) contain an allusion to Isaiah 52:7: [...] We infer a deliberate allusion for the following reasons: 1. Both passages describe the proclamation of the 'reign' or 'kingdom' of God as 'good tidings' or 'the gospel'. Isaiah 52:7 is the only passage in the Hebrew Old Testament (MT) where these concepts occur together. As we have seen, the Targum adds a further passage, Isaiah 40:9 (probably under the influence of the targumic interpretation of Isaiah 52:7), where 'the kingdom of your God is revealed' stands for MT, 'Your God reigns'. Like Isaiah 52:7, Isaiah 40:9 also refers to 'good tidings', and the Targum has 'the kingdom of your God is revealed' for MT, 'Behold your God!' ...”
Robert D. Rowe, God's Kingdom and God's Son: The Background in Mark's Christology from Concepts of Kingship in the Psalms, AGJU 50 (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 116–117.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Isaiah 40:9 and Mark 1:15 and Jonathan Isaiah 40:9

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