Isaiah 40:2

“Speak kindly to ¹  Jerusalem, ²  and tell her that her time of warfare is over, ³  that her punishment is completed. ⁴  For the Lord has made her pay double ⁵  for all her sins.”

Ge 34:3; 2Ch 30:22; Job 42:10-12; Ps 32:1; Ps 102:13-28; So 2:11-13; Isa 12:1; Isa 33:24; Isa 43:25; Isa 44:22; Isa 61:7; Jer 16:18; Jer 17:18; Jer 29:11; Jer 31:33,34; Jer 33:8,9; Da 9:2,24-27; Da 9:12; Da 11:35; Da 12:4,9; Ho 2:14; Hab 2:3; Zec 1:15; Zec 9:12; Ac 1:7; 1Co 6:9-11; Ga 4:4; Re 6:10,11; Re 11:15-18; Re 18:6

¹ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

³ tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

⁴ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

⁵ 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).