Isaiah 40:30

40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;

even strong young men clumsily stumble. ¹ 

Isaiah 40:28

40:28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is an eternal God,

the creator of the whole earth. ² 

He does not get tired or weary;

there is no limit to his wisdom. ³ 

Isaiah 40:31

40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help ⁴  find renewed strength;

they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, ⁵ 

they run without growing weary,

they walk without getting tired.

Isaiah 44:12

44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool ⁶ 

and forges metal over the coals.

He forms it ⁷  with hammers;

he makes it with his strong arm.

He gets hungry and loses his energy; ⁸ 

he drinks no water and gets tired.

[40:30]  ¹ tn Heb “stumbling they stumble.” The verbal idea is emphasized by the infinitive absolute.

[40:28]  ² tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.

[40:28]  ³ sn Exiled Israel’s complaint (v. 27) implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps he, like so many of the pagan gods, has died. Or perhaps his jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe he is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue his people, or is unable to execute it. But v. 28 affirms that he is not limited temporally or spatially nor is his power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver his people, if they respond in hopeful faith (v. 31a).

[40:31]  ³ tn The words “for the Lord’s help” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “they rise up [on] wings like eagles” (TEV similar).

[44:12]  ⁴ tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.

[44:12]  ⁵ tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.

[44:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”