Advent Season · Second Sunday of Advent · Year B
Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort for God’s People
December 6, 2026
Overview & Insights
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” (Isaiah 40:1)
So Isaiah 39, set in Isaiah’s own day, envisages the future deportation of Judeans to Babylon. Isaiah 40–55, however, is set in the time after this deportation has happened. It does not say “In days to come God will send a message of comfort to people who have been punished,” in the manner of a passage such as 30:19–26. It says, rather, “God is now comforting you who have been punished.” The traditional view is that these chapters were written by Isaiah ben Amoz, and we may assume that God could have revealed to Isaiah the message to be addressed to the people in Babylon 150 years after Isaiah’s day. But the way the chapters themselves speak suggests that they are rather words of comfort that God gave in the here and now of suffering through the pastoral ministry of a poet whom God called to be a new Isaiah for people who had long been under judgment.
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Commentary
Isaiah 40:1-11 Working Preacher
Luther Seminary commentary on Isaiah 40 as tender comfort after exile, a primer on preaching hope to a traumatized people.
Isaiah 40:1-11 Center for Excellence in Preaching
A Reformed commentary hearing 'Comfort, comfort' as a military discharge notice, God announcing that hard service is over.
Isaiah 40 Enduring Word · David Guzik
An evangelical verse-by-verse walk through Isaiah 40's comfort, the voice in the wilderness, and the shepherd God who gathers the lambs.
Isaiah 40 Word on Fire · Bishop Barron
A Catholic scripture page collecting homilies and reflections on Isaiah 40 and its Advent promise of God's coming in strength and tenderness.
Classic commentaries on Isaiah 40 BibleHub
Aggregated classic commentaries on Isaiah 40 verse by verse for word study and cross-reference.
Background & Word Study
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What is the comfort of Isaiah 40?
God announces the end of exile with a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare his way; he comes with might yet tends his flock like a shepherd, gathering the lambs in his arms.
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