Isaiah 40:2

40:2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and tell her

that her time of warfare is over,

that her punishment is completed.

For the Lord has made her pay double for all her sins.”

Isaiah 41:15

41:15 “Look, I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged.

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw.


tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).

tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.