Isaiah 40:5-6

40:5 The splendor ¹  of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people ²  will see it at the same time.

For ³  the Lord has decreed it.” ⁴ 

40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”

Another asks, ⁵  “What should I cry out?”

The first voice responds: ⁶  “All people are like grass, ⁷ 

and all their promises ⁸  are like the flowers in the field.

[40:5]  ¹ tn Or “glory.” The Lord’s “glory” is his theophanic radiance and royal splendor (see Isa 6:3; 24:23; 35:2; 60:1; 66:18-19).

[40:5]  ² tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NAB, NIV “mankind”; TEV “the whole human race.”

[40:5]  ³ tn Or “indeed.”

[40:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[40:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he says.” Apparently a second “voice” responds to the command of the first “voice.”

[40:6]  ⁶ tn The words “the first voice responds” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first voice tells the second one what to declare.

[40:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “all flesh is grass.” The point of the metaphor is explained in v. 7.

[40:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and all his loyalty.” The antecedent of the third masculine suffix is בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”), which refers collectively to mankind. The LXX, apparently understanding the antecedent as “grass,” reads “glory,” but חֶסֶד (khesed) rarely, if ever, has this nuance. The normal meaning of חֶסֶד (“faithfulness, loyalty, devotion”) fits very well in the argument. Human beings and their faithfulness (verbal expressions of faithfulness are specifically in view; cf. NRSV “constancy”) are short-lived and unreliable, in stark contrast to the decrees and promises of the eternal God.