What does Isaiah 40:31 mean? · Seek

Read with these questions

What complaint is the promise answering, and who voices it?¹

Does your translation picture soaring, raised wings or new feathers?^{16 22 23}

What the texts say

Isaiah 40:1–2 — Isaiah 40 begins by calling for comfort for God's people and tender words to Jerusalem: her hard service has ended and her wrongdoing is forgiven. This comfort frames the chapter. The Hebrew does not say who is being told to give it.²⁴
Isaiah 40:27 — Jacob/Israel complains that its way is hidden from the LORD and that its God has disregarded its cause. Verse 31 answers that complaint. Rashi hears Jacob speaking in exile.^{1 3}
Isaiah 40:28–31 — The everlasting creator never faints or grows weary, and he gives strength to the faint. Even the young faint and stumble; the passage contrasts them with those who wait for the LORD. Verses 28, 30 and 31 repeat the same two Hebrew verbs for growing weary and fainting, first about God, then the young, then those who wait.^{6 sources}6 sources25. Isaiah 40:28 5. Isaiah 40:29 26. Isaiah 40:30 2. Isaiah 40:31 27. this site's data 16. Alexander 1847

Show 1 more key verses

Psalms 103:5 — The psalm compares renewed youth to the eagle's. The Physiologus and AugustineAugustineA North African theologian (354–430), born at Tagaste, who served as bishop of Hippo from 396 until his death, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.From: Portalié; PortaliéAll terms → cite it when telling stories of an eagle made young again, and JeromeJeromeA Latin Church Father associated with the Vulgate, born in the fourth century and deceased in 420. Birth dates differ: Louis Saltet gives about 340–342, while Dionisio Candido gives 347.From: Saltet; CandidoAll terms → connects it with Isaiah's verse. Neither verse tells a story about the sun, a spring or a beak.^{5 sources}5 sources28. Psalms 103:5 14. Migne 15. Migne 29. Physiologus 30. Augustine

Background

The promise ends an argument about God Text

Before answering Israel's complaint, the chapter asks who can compare with God, contrasting him with the measured waters and mountains, the nations, idols made by craftsmen, earthly rulers and the stars he calls by name. The two Hebrew verbs for growing weary and fainting both appear in verses 28, 30 and 31; Alexander notes they are applied to God, then to the strongest men, then to those who wait for God. A Logos Staff article presenting Eric Tully's course reads the verse as the culmination of the chapter's argument about God's power to deliver captive Judah.^{4 sources}4 sources31. Isaiah 40:12–26 27. this site's data 16. Alexander 1847 32. Staff 2016

Exile and the question of composition Scholarship

Driver describes exiles in despair or indifferent, who think God has forgotten them. Cunningham places Isaiah 40–48 amid Cyrus's rise, written by a Judean of the Babylonian diaspora, but calls the author's relation to Babylon's fall a crux. The Nabonidus Chronicle records Cyrus entering Babylon in the year Livius dates to 539/538 BCE; it dates his entry, not the chapter. Alexander reports that the first hint of a separate author is commonly ascribed to Koppe, with Döderlein and Eichhorn saying the same of the whole latter part of Isaiah.^{8 sources}8 sources1. Isaiah 40:27 4. Driver 1906 18. Cunningham 2019 19. Cunningham 2019 20. Cunningham 2019 33. 7)34. (Livius.org)10. Alexander 1847

What the Great Isaiah Scroll's layout is said to show Scholarship

E. J. Young reported in 1958 that in the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran chapter 39 ends one line from the bottom of a page and chapter 40 begins on the last line without special indentation; he argued that the scroll does not support a break after chapter 39. The layout is given here as Young reports it. Johann Cook reports a clear three-line gap after chapter 33, which Giese used to propose a two-part division; Young thought that division probably has nothing to do with authorship.^{35 36}

Show 3 more background topics (Stories of the eagle growing young; Legend, not natural history; Where the verse is read and seen)

Stories of the eagle growing young Tradition

The Physiologus, whose earliest written collections Carlill places in OrigenOrigenA Christian scholar and teacher of Alexandria, born in 185 and deceased probably in 253 or 254, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. Marco Rizzi explains that he interpreted the Septuagint allegorically, like Philo.From: Prat; Prat; Prat; Rizzi; PratAll terms →'s Alexandria, has an ageing eagle burn off its old feathers near the sun and dive three times into a spring to become young.

The Physiologus, whose earliest written collections Carlill places in Origen's Alexandria, has an ageing eagle burn off its old feathers near the sun and dive three times into a spring to become young. Augustine reports that an old eagle is said to break its overgrown beak on a rock, and reads it as a likeness of resurrection. Rashi on the psalm gives yearly renewal of feathers first, then a midrashMidrashBoth a body of literature and a form of rabbinic biblical interpretation. Rachel Mikva distinguishes it from peshat, the contextual meaning, and describes its interest in the richness of what scripture can teach.From: Mikva; Mikva; MikvaAll terms → about an eagle returning to its youth. Radak reports Saadia: every ten years the eagle flies toward the heat, falls into the sea and is renewed, until it dies in its hundredth year.^{7 sources}7 sources28. Psalms 103:5 29. Physiologus 37. Carlill 1924 38. Carlill 1924 30. Augustine 39. Rashi 40. (Radak)

Legend, not natural history Scholarship

The rejuvenation stories are legends, not observations of eagles. Augustine introduces his with is said, and adds that the eagle is not restored to immortality. Calvin calls Saadia's account "utterly absurd and fabulous". Tristram, a naturalist, sees no need to read the psalm as about moulting, which all birds share, and takes it as about the great age such birds reach. Skinner judges an allusion to the legend in Isaiah not probable.^{8 sources}8 sources28. Psalms 103:5 29. Physiologus 30. Augustine 41. Calvin 1852 42. Calvin 1852 11. Tristram 1883 43. Tristram 1883 13. Skinner 1915

Where the verse is read and seen Tradition

In the Jewish annual cycle, Isaiah 40:27–41:16 is the haftarah read with Lech-Lecha, the call of Abraham, according to Hebcal. The Orthodox Church in America's calendar lists Isaiah 40:18-31 as a Sixth Hour reading, for example on 12 April 2005. A 2016 Logos article notes the verse on tee shirts, coffee mugs, bookmarks and wall art. In the film Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell reads from Isaiah 40, ending with verse 31, intercut with the Olympic heats he refused to run on a Sunday.^{4 sources}4 sources44. Hebcal 45. America 46. Staff 2016 47. Presbyterian 2024

Where else Scripture speaks of it

Text

Exodus 19:4 God recalls bearing Israel on eagles' wings and bringing them to himself. The bird word is the same as Isaiah's, but here the image is rescue from Egypt, not renewal of strength.
⁴‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
Read in context →
Deuteronomy 32:11 God's care for Israel is likened to an eagle that stirs its nest, hovers over its young and bears them on its pinions. Wünch's article on this verse argues for eagle as the rendering of the broader bird term.
¹¹As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.
Read in context →
Psalms 103:5 Renewed youth like the eagle's is the comparison later readers brought to Isaiah's image. Jerome links the passages; Rashi on the psalm gives yearly feather renewal alongside a midrash about restored youth.
⁵who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
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Show 1 more passages

Micah 1:16 The same bird word appears in a comparison with baldness, which Tristram reads as fitting only the griffon vulture and Wünch answers with a moulting eagle.
¹⁶Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.
Read in context →

How the traditions read it

Tradition

How different traditions read these texts, in their own terms.

Jewish: rabbinic · Hope for salvation, gathered from captivity

Targum Jonathan, the AramaicAramaicA Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary notes that parts of Ezra, Daniel and Jeremiah and a phrase in Genesis are written in Aramaic; Jesus probably spoke a Western Aramaic dialect.From: Daniel 2:4; Powell; Perrin; PowellAll terms → paraphrase, turns the waiting into hope for the LORD's salvation and makes the exile explicit: those who hope are gathered from their captivity, their youth is renewed like a sprouting shoot, and they hasten on eagles' wings.⁴⁸

Jewish: medieval commentator · Israel's strength and return

Rashi places Israel's complaint in exile, under the dominion of those who did not know God. Radak pictures the exhausted people renewing their strength like a tree that sprouts again after it is cut down. Ibn EzraIbn EzraA Spanish Jewish scholar (born 1092–1093, died 1167), according to the Jewish Encyclopedia. Steven McKenzie names him among twelfth-century readers who suspected that several documents lay behind the Bible’s first books.From: Gottheil; Gottheil; McKenzieAll terms → says the sense of the whole verse seems to be that the Israelites who trusted God will be strengthened and brought back to Jerusalem, while the mighty Babylonians weaken.^{4 sources}4 sources1. Isaiah 40:27 3. Rashi 40. (Radak)17. Ezra

Jewish: modern · The nation encouraged

Metzudat David, an eighteenth-century commentary, calls the wings a figure of speech for flying swiftly home to their land. Steinsaltz addresses the exiled nation, urging it not to despair because it can replenish its strength from the Creator, and explains the wings through feathers that regrow after moulting, not the rejuvenation story Radak reports. In synagogue the passage is read as the haftarah for Lech-Lecha.^{4 sources}4 sources49. David)50. Steinsaltz 40. (Radak)44. Hebcal

Show 8 more interpretations (Early church: Greek, Early church: Latin, Protestant: Reformed…)

Early church: Greek · Renewal through Christ

The Physiologus uses Psalm 103:5 for a Christian allegory of renewal through Christ. Its ageing eagle burns off old feathers near the sun and dives three times into a spring before becoming young again. The story is the Physiologus's own; the psalm gives only the comparison.^{28 29}

Early church: Latin · Resurrection and an immortal body

Jerome's text reads those who hope in the Lord. He says eagles' old age grows young again by the changing of feathers, and applies the verse to the saints becoming young again in an immortal body. Augustine, on the psalm, reports the story of the eagle's beak as a likeness of resurrection, with Christ as the rock, and notes that the eagle is not restored to immortality.^{5 sources}5 sources14. Migne 15. Migne 51. this site's data 28. Psalms 103:5 30. Augustine

Protestant: Reformed · Patient dependence, applied beyond the exile

Calvin says that here waiting means nothing else than patience, as against rash self-reliance. He names the captives in Babylon as the prophet's audience, tells later readers to apply the teaching when their strength fails, and reads the promise as vigour like the eagle's into advanced old age. Alexander calls restricting the verse to the exiles "entirely gratuitous": it is a general promise to all who patiently await God's promises, especially those who awaited the Messiah.^{5 sources}5 sources52. Calvin 1852 5. Isaiah 40:29 6. Calvin 1852 42. Calvin 1852 16. Alexander 1847

Protestant: Lutheran · Waiting as faith

Delitzsch reads those who wait for the LORD as those who believe in him, since the Old Testament describes faith with many words for trusting, hoping and longing. He takes the wings as lifted high rather than newly grown. In the late edition cited here he says the discourse is everywhere addressed to the people of the exile; he denies that the naming of Cyrus alone conclusively disproves one Isaiah, but says other literary and theological evidence strengthens the case against personal unity.^{4 sources}4 sources53. Delitzsch 1890 54. Delitzsch 1890 55. Delitzsch 1890 7. Delitzsch 1890

Protestant: evangelical · Remembering God's power

BibleProject reads the waiting as actively remembering who God is and what he has done, not passive waiting. The Logos Staff article presenting Tully's course stresses the chapter's argument that God can deliver captive Judah. Watts keeps the wider book in view: the opening implies imminent fulfilment, the later chapters show a return that left much to be desired, and he explains the gap as a postponed New Exodus.^{56 32 57}

Academic (critical) · Exiles addressed, composition argued

Driver reads despairing exiles as the audience and argues from differences of style and theology for a different author. Cunningham sets Isaiah 40–48 in Cyrus's rise as one author's composition, while noting that many scholars prefer a longer process. Skinner prefers put forth pinions but doubts any allusion to the eagle's renewal. George Adam Smith asks whether the running and walking picture the long caravan journey home.^{7 sources}7 sources1. Isaiah 40:27 4. Driver 1906 8. Driver 1906 18. Cunningham 2019 19. Cunningham 2019 13. Skinner 1915 58. Smith 1904

Jehovah's Witnesses · Hoping in Jehovah

Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation has hoping in Jehovah, which their page explains as hope or trust in God's ability and willingness to help. They attribute the verse to Isaiah in the eighth century BCE and say God may have provided it to encourage Jews who would later be taken to Babylon.²¹

Latter-day Saints · Relief in personal trials

Jeffrey R. Holland closed his October 2020 General Conference address, Waiting on the Lord, with this verse, praying that its blessings come to all who seek relief from sorrow and grief. The address applies it to personal trials such as illness and wayward children.⁵⁹

Common misunderstandings

Text

Things people commonly believe the text says, checked against it.

A common belief among believers
Myth Waiting on the Lord means doing nothing until help arrives.
Actually The verb's lexical sense includes looking eagerly for. Alexander glosses it expect, implying faith and patience, and Delitzsch reads it as belief and trust. Calvin's patience is dependence on God rather than rash self-reliance, not idleness.^{4 sources}4 sources60. this site's data 16. Alexander 1847 53. Delitzsch 1890 52. Calvin 1852
A common belief among believers
Myth The Hebrew word for wait literally means a twisted cord.
Actually BibleProject and Strong's link the verb to a cord, Strong's with perhaps by twisting. The Brown-Driver-Briggs entries stored here list cord and hope as separate nouns without explaining a link, and the verse's sense is to wait for or expect.^{4 sources}4 sources56. BibleProject 61. this site's data 62. this site's data 60. this site's data
A common belief among believers
Myth Isaiah tells how an eagle burns away its feathers and becomes young again.
Actually Isaiah gives a wing comparison, and the psalm a renewed-youth comparison. The sun, spring and beak stories come from later interpreters, in different versions in the Physiologus, Augustine and Radak's report of Saadia, and Calvin calls Saadia's version "utterly absurd and fabulous".^{7 sources}7 sources2. Isaiah 40:31 28. Psalms 103:5 29. Physiologus 30. Augustine 40. (Radak)41. Calvin 1852 42. Calvin 1852

Show 2 more misconceptions

A common belief among skeptics
Myth The Hebrew word really means vulture, so eagle is a mistranslation.
Actually Brown-Driver-Briggs lists both griffon-vulture and eagle. Tristram favours the griffon but allows that the word may have covered the larger eagles and vultures alike, and Wünch argues that eagle seems the best rendering of a term for a great bird of prey.^{63 11 12}
A common belief among skeptics
Myth Christian interpreters simply ignore the captives and turn the verse into private encouragement.
Actually Calvin names the captives in Babylon as the audience before applying the teaching to later readers, and Delitzsch says the discourse is everywhere addressed to the people of the exile. The Logos Staff article presenting Tully's course centres the chapter on God's power to deliver captive Judah.^{4 sources}4 sources5. Isaiah 40:29 6. Calvin 1852 7. Delitzsch 1890 32. Staff 2016

Words worth a closer look

Text

Where the wording in different Bibles diverges, and why.

Isaiah 40:31 · “qavah — wait or hope” קוה

Brown-Driver-Briggs defines the verb as wait for, and gives its Piel senses as wait, or look eagerly, for. Of the English editions in this site's database, eight use wait (the ASV, Brenton, BSB, Darby, Geneva, JPS 1917, KJV and WEB); the Douay-Rheims, following the Latin, is the only one with hope in. Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation has hoping in, and George Adam Smith translates hope. Alexander (1847) glossed the word as wait for or expect, implying faith and patience, and warned that wait upon in the English of his day suggested personal service. Delitzsch reads those who wait as those who believe.^{7 sources}7 sources60. this site's data 64. this site's data 51. this site's data 21. (jw.org)65. Smith 1904 16. Alexander 1847 53. Delitzsch 1890

Compare the versions

ASVbut they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

DRCBut they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Show all 4 versions

KJVBut they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

ASVbut they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

JPSBut they that wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

DRCBut they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Open in compare →

Joshua 2:18 · “The cord explanation”

BibleProject, citing Schibler in NIDOTTE, says qavah is related to qav, a cord or rope, and pictures the waiting as a rope pulled tight. Strong's similarly derives the verb from a root meaning to bind together, perhaps by twisting, with the figurative sense to expect. The Brown-Driver-Briggs entries stored here list two separate nouns spelled tiqvah, one meaning cord and one meaning hope, without explaining whether they are related. Joshua 2:18 uses tiqvah for Rahab's scarlet cord, but that occurrence does not show where the word for hope came from. The cord link is a proposal about the word's history, not a settled fact; the sense in this verse is waiting or expecting.^{6 sources}6 sources56. BibleProject 61. this site's data 62. this site's data 66. Joshua 2:18 67. this site's data 60. this site's data

Open in compare →

Isaiah 40:31 · “Renew or change strength”

The KJV margin notes that the Hebrew behind renew means change. Brown-Driver-Briggs gives the verb's Hiphil senses as change and show newness, and its Qal sense, of grass, as to sprout again. Radak pictures Israel, its strength gone in exile, renewing it like a felled tree that sprouts again, and Targum Jonathan likens renewed youth to a sprouting shoot.^{4 sources}4 sources68. this site's data 69. this site's data 40. (Radak)48. Jonathan

Open in compare →

Show 2 more translation notes (“Soaring, raised wings or new feathers”, “nesher — eagle or vulture”)

Isaiah 40:31 · “Soaring, raised wings or new feathers”

Alexander lists three readings of the clause. Mount up with wings is LutherMartin LutherA German religious reformer (1483–1546), according to the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Henry Ganss’s Catholic Encyclopedia article reports that Luther translated the New Testament into German while at Wartburg.From: Lindsay; Lindsay; GanssAll terms →'s and the KJV's. Put forth fresh feathers like the moulting eagle is Lowth's, following the SeptuagintSeptuagintAn ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, also including books Christians call Apocrypha or deuterocanonical books, according to Jannes Smith.From: Smith; SmithAll terms → and VulgateVulgateA Latin Bible closely associated with Jerome, with contributions from other translators. Dionisio Candido writes that it was the official Bible of Western Christianity for centuries.From: CandidoAll terms →; the Septuagint's verb means they will grow feathers, and Brenton's English follows it. Raise the pinion like the eagles is the third, which Alexander prefers, objecting that the verb nowhere else means put forth and that the noun means a pinion, not feathers in general. Skinner instead calls mount up grammatically doubtful and judges put forth pinions by far the best, as George Adam Smith also translates. Delitzsch follows Hitzig with lift high their wings.^{7 sources}7 sources16. Alexander 1847 22. this site's data 23. this site's data 13. Skinner 1915 65. Smith 1904 54. Delitzsch 1890 55. Delitzsch 1890

Isaiah 40:31

BSBBut those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

KJVBut they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Open in compare →

Micah 1:16 · “nesher — eagle or vulture” נשר

Brown-Driver-Briggs defines nesher as griffon-vulture, eagle, in that order. Tristram identifies it with the Arabic name used for the griffon vulture, and argues that Micah 1:16's baldness fits only that bird, though he allows that nesher may have covered the larger eagles and vultures alike. Wünch argues that the word names a great bird of prey rather than one species, and that it seems best to translate it eagle. The same word appears in Exodus 19:4, Deuteronomy 32:11 and Psalm 103:5.^{6 sources}6 sources63. this site's data 11. Tristram 1883 70. Micah 1:16 71. Tristram 1883 12. Wünch 2016 72. this site's data

Micah 1:16

BSBShave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.

KJVMake thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

Open in compare →

History and evidence

Evidence

Each claim judged on its own, with the limits of the evidence stated.

Supported
Waiting here means expectant hope or trust, not idle delay.
The lexical entry and the named interpreters connect the waiting with expectation.
Why this verdict
Claims about the text
Confidence: high
The lexical entry and the named interpreters connect the waiting with expectation. Eight database editions say wait and the Douay-Rheims says hope in; those wordings do not represent two opposed accounts of trust.^{6 sources}6 sources60. this site's data 16. Alexander 1847 52. Calvin 1852 53. Delitzsch 1890 64. this site's data 51. this site's data
Cross-community agreement · Brown-Driver-Briggs gives look eagerly for; Alexander and Calvin explain faith and patience, Delitzsch belief, and Jehovah's Witnesses hope or trust in God's help. (as of 2026-11-09)
Open
The bird in Isaiah's image is specifically a griffon vulture.
Tristram's main argument is Micah's comparison with the bird's baldness, and he allows that the word may have covered larger eagles and vultures alike.
Why this verdict
Claims about the text
Confidence: high
Tristram's main argument is Micah's comparison with the bird's baldness, and he allows that the word may have covered larger eagles and vultures alike. Wünch disputes that Micah or Job requires a vulture and argues that the term covers a great bird of prey rather than one species. The lexicon gives both. The cited material leaves the species here unresolved.^{5 sources}5 sources70. Micah 1:16 71. Tristram 1883 11. Tristram 1883 12. Wünch 2016 63. this site's data
Contested · Tristram (a naturalist and Anglican clergyman) favours the griffon; Wünch favours eagle as the rendering of a broader bird term; Brown-Driver-Briggs lists both griffon-vulture and eagle. (as of 2026-11-09)
Open
Isaiah's wing clause describes growing new plumage.
Growing feathers is an ancient rendering, but the cited commentators disagree about the grammar.
Why this verdict
Claims about the text
Confidence: high
Growing feathers is an ancient rendering, but the cited commentators disagree about the grammar. Even Skinner, who favours putting forth pinions, judges an allusion to the popular notion of the ageing eagle's renewal not probable. A new-wings translation does not settle whether Isaiah invokes that notion.^{6 sources}6 sources22. this site's data 23. this site's data 16. Alexander 1847 13. Skinner 1915 54. Delitzsch 1890 55. Delitzsch 1890
Contested · The Septuagint reads growing feathers and Skinner judges put forth pinions by far the best; Alexander prefers raising the pinion, and Delitzsch follows Hitzig in lifting the wings high. (as of 2026-11-09)
Supported
The promise answers Israel's complaint and is addressed to the people in exile.
The complaint names Jacob/Israel.
Why this verdict
Claims about the text
Confidence: high
The complaint names Jacob/Israel. Rashi hears Jacob speaking in exile, Radak reads those who wait as Israel in exile, Driver identifies discouraged exiles and Calvin the captives in Babylon; Delitzsch says the discourse is everywhere addressed to the people of the exile, and Ibn Ezra and the TargumTargumAn Aramaic translation of the Bible. The Jewish Encyclopedia traces the practice to the Second Temple period and describes translators rendering biblical texts into Aramaic in the synagogue.From: Bacher; Bacher; LevineAll terms → read the promise as return from captivity. Alexander calls restricting the words to the exiles "entirely gratuitous". Agreement on the audience leaves open who wrote the passage and who else may claim it.^{10 sources}10 sources1. Isaiah 40:27 3. Rashi 40. (Radak)4. Driver 1906 5. Isaiah 40:29 6. Calvin 1852 7. Delitzsch 1890 17. Ezra 48. Jonathan 16. Alexander 1847
Cross-community agreement · Rashi, Radak, Ibn Ezra and the Targum, Calvin, Delitzsch and Driver read it as addressed to Israel in exile; Jehovah's Witnesses read it as given ahead of time for Jews later taken to Babylon. Alexander rejects restricting its words to the exiles. (as of 2026-11-09)
Open
Isaiah 40 was composed in the setting of Cyrus's rise rather than by Isaiah for a later audience.
Driver argues that the literary and theological differences outweigh the similarities, and the chapters name Cyrus.
Why this verdict
Claims about the text
Confidence: medium
Driver argues that the literary and theological differences outweigh the similarities, and the chapters name Cyrus. Delitzsch's late edition denies that the naming of Cyrus alone is a conclusive disproof of one Isaiah, but says other evidence strengthens the case against personal unity. Alexander answers with the book's attribution and with prediction written for later ages. Cunningham reports disagreement about the timing relative to Babylon's fall. The sources checked give no settled composition date.^{9 sources}9 sources8. Driver 1906 18. Cunningham 2019 19. Cunningham 2019 20. Cunningham 2019 73. Isaiah 44:28 74. Isaiah 45:1 7. Delitzsch 1890 9. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 48:24 10. Alexander 1847
Contested · Cunningham places the composition amid Cyrus's rise and Driver argues for a different author; Alexander defends Isaiah's authorship and prediction for later ages, and Jehovah's Witnesses attribute the verse to Isaiah in the eighth century BCE. (as of 2026-11-09)
Outside what evidence can settle
God renews the strength of people who trust him.
This is the promise the text makes.
Why this verdict
Theological claims
Confidence: high
This is the promise the text makes. Radak reads it of Israel in exile renewing its strength like a felled tree that sprouts again, Calvin applies it whenever later readers' strength fails, and Jerome applies it to the saints in an immortal body.^{6 sources}6 sources5. Isaiah 40:29 2. Isaiah 40:31 40. (Radak)6. Calvin 1852 14. Migne 15. Migne

Hard questions

The strongest case, the strongest responses, then a plain assessment of where the logic holds.

Does "wait" mean sitting still, or is "hope" the better word?

The word means expectant waiting, so neither idle delay nor a forced choice between waiting and hoping fits; the cord etymology is a proposal, not the basis of that sense.

See the argument

The strongest case

The familiar English may mislead. Alexander warned in 1847 that wait upon, in the English of his day, suggested personal service or attendance rather than the Hebrew's expectation. BibleProject argues that the verse is not about passive waiting but about actively remembering who God is and what he has done, and relates qavah to qav, a cord or rope pulled tight. Several renderings choose hope instead: the Douay-Rheims, following the Latin; Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation; and George Adam Smith. Targum Jonathan speaks of those who hope for the LORD's salvation.^{11 sources}11 sources16. Alexander 1847 56. BibleProject 51. this site's data 21. (jw.org)65. Smith 1904 48. Jonathan 52. Calvin 1852 60. this site's data 61. this site's data 62. this site's data 53. Delitzsch 1890

P1. Alexander judged that wait upon, in the English of his day, suggested personal service rather than expectation.¹⁶No listed response challenges this premise
P2. BibleProject relates qavah to a cord pulled tight and reads the verse as active remembering, not passive waiting.⁵⁶
P3. The Douay-Rheims, the New World Translation and George Adam Smith render the verb with hope.^{51 21 65}No listed response challenges this premise
P4. So hope, or active trust, conveys the word better than an English wait that suggests sitting still.

→ Conclusion. The verse calls for active, expectant hope, and an English "wait" heard as passivity misleads.

Strongest responses

Protestant: Reformed challenges P4

Patience is the point. Calvin says that in this passage waiting means nothing else than patience, as against rash self-reliance. His patient dependence should not be equated with the inactivity BibleProject rejects.⁵²

Protestant: Reformed challenges P4

Alexander objected to a phrase, not to waiting. Alexander's own gloss keeps the waiting: to wait for or expect, implying faith and patience. His complaint was that wait upon suggested personal service in his day. Brown-Driver-Briggs likewise gives wait for and look eagerly for, and eight of the database's English editions use wait.^{16 60 64}

Tradition unspecified challenges P2

The cord is a proposal about the word's history. Strong's gives a similar derivation from binding together, perhaps by twisting. The Brown-Driver-Briggs entries stored here list cord and hope as two separate nouns spelled tiqvah without explaining a link, and Rahab's cord in Joshua 2:18 does not by itself show where hope came from. The verse's sense, wait for or expect, does not depend on the cord picture.^{5 sources}5 sources61. this site's data 62. this site's data 66. Joshua 2:18 67. this site's data 60. this site's data

Protestant: Lutheran challenges the framing

Waiting and hoping both name faith. Delitzsch reads those who wait for the LORD as those who believe in him, because the Old Testament describes faith with many synonyms of trusting, hoping and longing. On his reading wait and hope are not rivals: both name trust in God.⁵³

Plain assessment

The word's sense is expectant: Brown-Driver-Briggs gives look eagerly for, Alexander expect, implying faith and patience, and Delitzsch belief. That supports the case's point that the waiting is not idle, and it is why hope renderings are defensible. It does not make wait wrong: Calvin makes patience the point, and Alexander objected to the phrase wait upon, not to waiting. BibleProject's cord explanation is a proposal that Strong's shares and that the stored Brown-Driver-Briggs entries neither make nor explain; the verse's sense does not rest on it.

What would change this assessment: A lexical study showing the verb used of idle delay, or showing that a cord sense shaped its use here, would change this assessment.

Assessment uses: qavah — wait or hope · The cord explanation · Waiting here means expectant hope or trust, not idle delay. · Protestant: Reformed · Protestant: Lutheran · Protestant: evangelical

Does the eagle image rest on the legend of an eagle growing young again?

The rejuvenation stories are told by later interpreters, not by Isaiah, and are not natural history; whether the wing clause alludes to such a belief depends on a disputed construction, and Skinner judges it improbable.

See the argument

The strongest case

Ancient readers found renewal in the wing clause. The Septuagint reads it as growing feathers, and Delitzsch reports that the ancients after it, among them the Targum, the Syriac, Jerome and Saadia, saw the eagle's new plumage here. Jerome says, as something often said, that eagles' old age grows young again by the changing of feathers, and applies the verse to the saints made young in an immortal body. Radak reports Saadia's cycle of flight toward the heat, a fall into the sea and renewal every ten years. Skinner reports Cheyne finding an allusion to the popular notion that the eagle renews its feathers in old age. If that is the background, the image leans on a story about eagles that is legend, not natural history.^{17 sources}17 sources22. this site's data 23. this site's data 54. Delitzsch 1890 55. Delitzsch 1890 14. Migne 15. Migne 40. (Radak)13. Skinner 1915 28. Psalms 103:5 29. Physiologus 30. Augustine 16. Alexander 1847 41. Calvin 1852 42. Calvin 1852 63. this site's data 11. Tristram 1883 12. Wünch 2016

P1. The Septuagint reads the clause as growing feathers, and Jerome and Saadia, as Radak reports him, tie it to an eagle renewed in old age.^{7 sources}7 sources22. this site's data 23. this site's data 14. Migne 15. Migne 40. (Radak)54. Delitzsch 1890 55. Delitzsch 1890
P2. Psalm 103:5 already compares renewed youth with the eagle's.²⁸
P3. So Isaiah's image draws on the belief that eagles grow young again.

→ Conclusion. The verse's eagle image depends on a legend of the eagle's rejuvenation.

Strongest responses

Academic (critical) challenges P3

New wings need not mean the legend. Skinner prefers put forth pinions, yet judges an allusion to the popular notion that the eagle renews its feathers in old age not probable, and reads the image as being borne aloft on wings of faith and hope.¹³

Protestant: Reformed challenges P1

The grammar points to raised wings. Alexander rejects the fresh-feathers reading on grammar: the verb nowhere else means put forth, and the noun means a pinion, not feathers in general. He prefers raise the pinion like the eagles.¹⁶

Protestant: Lutheran challenges P1

Lifted wings, not new plumage. Delitzsch grants that the ancients saw new plumage here and that Psalm 103:5 uses it as an image of becoming young again, but follows Hitzig, who he says rightly objects on grammatical grounds, in reading lift high their wings.^{54 55}

Protestant: Reformed challenges the conclusion

Vigour into old age, the fable set aside. Calvin dismisses Saadia's account of the eagle burning its wings near the sun as "utterly absurd and fabulous". He reads the prophet as promising that those who trust the Lord will be vigorous like eagles into the most advanced old age, and the eagle's high flight as possibly denoting strength and agility.^{41 42}

Protestant: Anglican challenges P2

The psalm is about long life, not moulting. Tristram sees no need to read Psalm 103:5 as about moulting, which all birds share; he takes it as about the great age such birds reach.^{28 43}

Jewish: modern challenges P3

Ordinary moulting, or a figure of speech. Steinsaltz explains the clause through wing feathers that regrow after the old ones are moulted, ordinary renewal rather than the rejuvenation story. Metzudat David calls the wings a figure of speech for flying swiftly home.^{50 49}

Plain assessment

The rejuvenation stories are old, but they come from interpreters, not from Isaiah's wording: the Physiologus, Augustine and Saadia tell different versions, and Calvin calls Saadia's "utterly absurd and fabulous". Whether Isaiah alludes to such a belief depends on the wing clause. The Septuagint's growing feathers supports the renewal reading; Alexander's raised and Delitzsch's lifted wings remove it; and Skinner shows that even the new-pinions reading need not carry the legend. The species is a separate question: Brown-Driver-Briggs gives griffon-vulture and eagle, Tristram argues for the griffon and Wünch for eagle.

What would change this assessment: A source showing the rejuvenation belief current in Isaiah's own setting, or a decisive grammatical study of the wing clause, would change this assessment.

Assessment uses: Soaring, raised wings or new feathers · nesher — eagle or vulture · Isaiah's wing clause describes growing new plumage. · The bird in Isaiah's image is specifically a griffon vulture. · Stories of the eagle growing young · Ps.103.5 · Legend, not natural history

Who was addressed, and does an exilic audience mean a later author?

That the passage addresses exiles is widely shared among the readers cited; whether a later author wrote it, and when, remains disputed in the sources checked.

See the argument

The strongest case

Driver argues that the differences between the later chapters and Isaiah's acknowledged prophecies are more numerous and more fundamental than the similarities, which shared subject matter or borrowing could explain. Delitzsch's late edition holds that the naming of Cyrus alone is not a conclusive disproof of one Isaiah, but judges the disproof almost, though not absolutely, conclusive and strengthens it with literary and theological evidence. Cunningham locates Isaiah 40–48 amid Cyrus's rise. Skinner, who counts the medieval Ibn Ezra as a guarded forerunner of this view, notes that a book's title need not guarantee the authorship of every part of it.^{17 sources}17 sources8. Driver 1906 7. Delitzsch 1890 18. Cunningham 2019 19. Cunningham 2019 20. Cunningham 2019 75. Isaiah 1:1 1. Isaiah 40:27 3. Rashi 4. Driver 1906 5. Isaiah 40:29 6. Calvin 1852 9. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 48:24 10. Alexander 1847 73. Isaiah 44:28 35. Young 1958 76. Josephus 21. (jw.org)

P1. The chapter answers Jacob/Israel's complaint; later chapters name Cyrus; the book's title names Isaiah son of Amoz.^{4 sources}4 sources1. Isaiah 40:27 73. Isaiah 44:28 74. Isaiah 45:1 75. Isaiah 1:1No listed response challenges this premise
P2. Driver finds the differences from Isaiah's acknowledged prophecies more numerous and more fundamental than the similarities, and Delitzsch's late edition adds literary and theological evidence to the naming of Cyrus.^{8 7}No listed response challenges this premise
P3. So the exilic address is better explained by a later author than by Isaiah writing for generations to come.

→ Conclusion. Isaiah 40 was written in or near the exile by someone other than Isaiah son of Amoz.

Strongest responses

Protestant: Reformed challenges P3

Attribution and prediction for later ages. Alexander counts the ancient and uniform Jewish tradition and the Son of Sirach's recognition of the whole book as Isaiah's among the testimonies for Isaiah's authorship. He holds that the objection from the naming of Cyrus may readily be solved, because the chapters were not written solely for the writer's contemporaries.^{9 10 73}

Protestant: Reformed challenges P3

No break in the scroll, as Young reports it. Young reports that in the Great Isaiah Scroll chapter 40 begins on the last line of the page where chapter 39 ends, without special indentation, and argues that the scroll most emphatically does not support a break after chapter 39. The layout rests on his report. Cook notes a clear three-line gap after chapter 33 instead, a division Young thought probably has nothing to do with authorship.^{35 36}

Jewish: Second Temple challenges P3

Cyrus read Isaiah's book. JosephusJosephusA Jewish historian (37–after 100 CE), according to Steve Mason and the Jewish Encyclopedia. Mason explains that his Antiquities, completed in 93/94 CE, retells Judean history from creation to the eve of the war against Rome.From: Mason; Mason; Gottheil; Mason; MasonAll terms →, a first-century Jewish historian, says Cyrus learned of his commission by reading the book Isaiah left behind, and that Isaiah foretold it 140 years before the temple was demolished. His story is reception, not independent evidence that Cyrus read Isaiah.⁷⁶

Jehovah's Witnesses challenges P3

Encouragement provided in advance. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Isaiah wrote the verse in the eighth century BCE and that God may have provided the words to encourage Jews who would later be taken to Babylon.²¹

Plain assessment

The audience is common ground: Rashi, Driver, Calvin and Delitzsch read the passage as addressed to exiles. The dispute is whether that requires a later writer. Driver's literary and theological differences and Delitzsch's late judgment carry the case for a later author, while Cunningham reports that even later-composition readings disagree about the timing relative to Babylon's fall. Alexander, Josephus and Jehovah's Witnesses answer with prediction for later readers, and Young with the scroll's layout as he reports it.

What would change this assessment: A direct critical reply to Young's manuscript argument, a collation of the scroll at this point, or further checked work on the literary differences would sharpen this assessment.

Assessment uses: The promise answers Israel's complaint and is addressed to the people in exile. · Isaiah 40 was composed in the setting of Cyrus's rise rather than by Isaiah for a later audience. · What the Great Isaiah Scroll's layout is said to show · Exile and the question of composition · Jewish: medieval commentator · Protestant: Reformed · Protestant: Lutheran · Academic (critical)

Is this a promise to Israel in exile, or to anyone who needs strength?

The promise was first addressed to Israel in exile; extending it to later readers is an interpretive step that Alexander, Calvin and others argue for, not something the original address shows by itself.

See the argument

The strongest case

Read in its chapter, the promise has an address. The complaint it answers is Jacob/Israel's, and Driver identifies the speakers as exiles who think God has forgotten them. Ibn Ezra says the sense of the whole verse seems to be that the Israelites who trusted God will be strengthened and brought back to Jerusalem while the Babylonians weaken. Targum Jonathan has those who hope for the LORD's salvation gathered from their captivity, and Radak has Israel, its strength gone in exile, sprouting again like a felled tree. The Logos Staff article presenting Eric Tully's course reads the verse as the culmination of an argument about God's power to deliver captive Judah, and the staff writer warns that it loses its impact in isolation.^{11 sources}11 sources1. Isaiah 40:27 4. Driver 1906 17. Ezra 48. Jonathan 40. (Radak)32. Staff 2016 16. Alexander 1847 5. Isaiah 40:29 6. Calvin 1852 21. (jw.org)59. Holland

P1. The promise answers Jacob/Israel's complaint, which Rashi and Driver place in the exile.^{1 3 4}No listed response challenges this premise
P2. Ibn Ezra, Targum Jonathan and Radak read its content as Israel strengthened and brought back from captivity.^{17 48 40}No listed response challenges this premise
P3. So the promise belongs to Israel's restoration, and reading it as a personal promise of stamina detaches it from its setting.

→ Conclusion. Isaiah 40:31 is a promise to exiled Israel about its return, not a general promise to any reader.

Strongest responses

Protestant: Reformed challenges P3

A general proposition. Alexander calls the restriction of the words to the exiles in Babylon "entirely gratuitous". He reads them as a general proposition for all who patiently await God's promises, pointing especially to the faithful who awaited the Messiah.¹⁶

Protestant: Reformed challenges P3

First the captives, then every reader. Calvin agrees that it was to the people held captive in Babylon that the prophet looked, yet tells readers to apply the teaching to themselves whenever their strength fails. On his reading the original address and the later application stand together.^{5 6}

Jehovah's Witnesses challenges the conclusion

Given for the exiles, kept for those who hope. Jehovah's Witnesses say God may have provided the words to encourage Jews later taken to Babylon, and their page explains the verse for those who have hope, or trust, in God's ability and willingness to help his people.²¹

Latter-day Saints challenges the conclusion

Applied to personal sorrow. Jeffrey R. Holland closed his 2020 General Conference address with the verse, praying that its blessings come to all who seek relief from sorrow and grief, in trials such as illness and wayward children.⁵⁹

Plain assessment

The case's facts hold: the complaint is Israel's, and Jewish readers from the Targum to Ibn Ezra and Radak give the promise a concrete content in the return from captivity. What divides readers is the step from that address to later readers. Alexander, Calvin, Jehovah's Witnesses and Holland take it on different grounds, and Calvin does so while naming the captives as the first audience. Whether God gives such strength to any reader is a theological claim, outside what evidence can settle.

What would change this assessment: A sourced argument linking the original audience to later recipients would sharpen the application question; historical evidence cannot settle whether God fulfils the promise.

Assessment uses: Isa.40.27 · The promise answers Israel's complaint and is addressed to the people in exile. · God renews the strength of people who trust him. · Jewish: rabbinic · Jewish: medieval commentator · Protestant: Reformed · Jehovah's Witnesses · Latter-day Saints · The promise ends an argument about God

Did the promise outrun what happened?

Smith answers the descending order as a climax, but Watts finds within the book a return that fell short of the opening's hope, which he explains as postponement rather than failed prophecy.

See the argument

The strongest case

George Adam Smith imagines a cynic noticing that the verse descends from soaring to running to walking, and asking whether standing still comes next. Rikki Watts, an evangelicalEvangelicalThe National Association of Evangelicals describes evangelicals as people who take the Bible seriously and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; it derives the name from Greek euangelion, “good news” or “gospel”.From: EvangelicalsAll terms → scholar, raises a harder problem from within the book: although the opening of Isaiah 40 implies the hope's imminent fulfilment, chapters 56-66 make clear that the reality of the return left much to be desired.^{4 sources}4 sources58. Smith 1904 57. Watts 1990 42. Calvin 1852 2. Isaiah 40:31

P1. Smith's hypothetical cynic objects that the order soaring, running, walking descends, and asks whether standing still comes next.⁵⁸
P2. Watts argues that the opening of Isaiah 40 implies imminent fulfilment, while chapters 56-66 show that the return left much to be desired.⁵⁷No listed response challenges this premise
P3. So the promise of renewed strength outran what the returning exiles experienced.

→ Conclusion. The promise of strength was not fulfilled as it was given.

Strongest responses

Academic (critical) challenges P1, the framing

A true climax, and a real road. Smith answers his own cynic: the order is a natural and true climax, rising from the easier to the more difficult. He also asks whether the prophet may have had the exiles' actual journey in mind: first the rush of the Return, then the long tramp with the slow caravan, when walking without fainting would matter most.⁵⁸

Protestant: evangelical challenges P3

Postponed, not failed. Watts does not read the gap as a failed prophecy. He explains it as the postponement of the New Exodus, a problem the book itself raises.⁵⁷

Protestant: Reformed challenges the conclusion

Vigour for every failing strength. Calvin reads the promise as vigour like the eagle's into the most advanced old age, and tells readers to apply it to themselves whenever their strength fails.^{42 5 6}

Plain assessment

Smith's cynic is a hypothetical, not a named critic, and Smith answers it by reading the order as a true climax from the easier to the more difficult. Watts's problem comes from within the book: on his reading, chapters 56-66 show the return falling short of what the opening implied. He explains the gap as a postponed New Exodus rather than a failed prophecy.

What would change this assessment: A named critical treatment of the verse arguing that the promise failed, or a sourced account of the returnees' experience, would sharpen this assessment; whether God fulfils the promise is outside what evidence can settle.

Assessment uses: Academic (critical) · Protestant: evangelical · Protestant: Reformed · God renews the strength of people who trust him.

Check yourself

Who is named in the complaint before the promise?

Jacob/Israel, complaining that its way is hidden from the LORD and its cause disregarded.¹

Isaiah 40:27

Why does the passage mention young people's exhaustion?

Their failing strength is set against the creator's tirelessness and his gift of strength to those who wait for him.^{4 sources}4 sources25. Isaiah 40:28 5. Isaiah 40:29 26. Isaiah 40:30 2. Isaiah 40:31

Isaiah 40:28–31

Does the psalm describe an eagle diving into a spring to regain its youth?

It compares renewed youth with the eagle's; the spring story comes from the Physiologus.^{28 29}

Psalms 103:5

For reflection

Calvin keeps the captives as the first audience and still applies the promise to later readers. How does that shape the way you use it?^{5 6}

What changes when you read waiting as Alexander's expectation, Calvin's patience or BibleProject's remembrance?^{16 52 56}

Keep going

Crossing the Red Sea (and did the Exodus happen?)

At Sinai God tells Israel he bore them on eagles' wings, an image of rescue from Egypt; Isaiah 40:31 uses the same bird word, nesher.^{77 72 2}

Exodus 19:4

Rahab and the fall of Jericho

Rahab's cord is the occurrence of tiqvah cited in the proposed link between cord and hope.^{66 67 56}

Joshua 2:18

Cite this page

Plain citation

What does Isaiah 40:31 mean? Know the Text. Seek lens, version 1, revised 2026-11-09, Fact-checked. https://knowthetext.com/seek/questions/isaiah-40-31/

Chicago-style note

Know the Text, “What does Isaiah 40:31 mean?” Seek lens, version 1, revised 2026-11-09, Fact-checked, https://knowthetext.com/seek/questions/isaiah-40-31/.

BibTeX

@misc{knowthetext-isaiah-40-31,
  author = {{Know the Text}},
  title = {What does Isaiah 40:31 mean?},
  howpublished = {Know the Text, Seek lens},
  url = {https://knowthetext.com/seek/questions/isaiah-40-31/},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Version 1; revised 2026-11-09; Fact-checked}
}

Sources

77 sources from 62 works

1
Isaiah 40:27↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h ↩ⁱ ↩^j ↩^k ↩^l ↩^m
2
Isaiah 40:31↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
3
Rashi, tr. A. J. Rosenberg (Judaica Press), Rashi on Isaiah 40:27 (Sefaria)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (1906)
- 4
  ch. 4, Isaiah, section VII (c. 40-66)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h
- 8
  ch. 4, Isaiah, section VII, authorship↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
5
Isaiah 40:29↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h ↩ⁱ ↩^j ↩^k ↩^l ↩^m
John Calvin, tr. William Pringle, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, vol. 3 (Calvin Translation Society) (1852)
- 6
  on Isa 40:29, p. 237↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h ↩ⁱ ↩^j ↩^k
- 41
  on Isa 40:31, pp. 239-240↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 42
  on Isa 40:31, p. 240↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
- 52
  on Isa 40:31, p. 239↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, vol. 2 (tr. from the 4th ed.) (1890)
- 7
  Introduction to chs. 40-66↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
- 53
  on Isa 40:30-31, p. 149↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
- 54
  on Isa 40:31, pp. 149-150↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
- 55
  on Isa 40:31, p. 150↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
9
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 48:24↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
Joseph Addison Alexander, The Later Prophecies of Isaiah (1847)
- 10
  Introduction↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
- 16
  on Isa 40:31↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h ↩ⁱ ↩^j ↩^k ↩^l ↩^m ↩ⁿ ↩^o ↩^p ↩^q ↩^r ↩^s
H. B. Tristram, The Natural History of the Bible (1883)
- 11
  Birds of prey, Nesher↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
- 43
  Birds of prey, Nesher, p. 174↩^a ↩^b
- 71
  Birds of prey, Nesher, p. 173↩^a ↩^b
12
Hans-Georg Wünch, “Like an eagle carries its young” (2016), HTS Teologiese Studies 72(4), p. 3↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
13
John Skinner, The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapters XL-LXVI (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1915), note on Isa 40:31↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
Jerome (ed. J.-P. Migne, PL 24, 1845), Commentariorum in Isaiam prophetam liber XII
- 14
  on Isa 40:27-31, PL 24 col. 413-414↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
- 15
  on Isa 40:27-31, PL 24 col. 414↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
17
Abraham ibn Ezra, tr. M. Friedländer (1873), Ibn Ezra on Isaiah 40:31 (Sefaria)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
Marshall A. Cunningham, “Isaiah 40:1-2: Reading Royal Commission as a Call for Return Migration in the Early Persian Period” (2019)
- 18
  Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 19, art. 6, introduction↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 19
  Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 19, art. 6, p. 2↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 20
  Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 19, art. 6, n. 24↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
21
Jehovah's Witnesses (jw.org), “Isaiah 40:31 Explained: 'Those Hoping in Jehovah Will Regain Power'”↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h ↩ⁱ
22
Checked in this site's verse database: Bible DB: LXX Isa 40:31 (Brenton Greek)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
How this was derived
select count(*) from verses where work_id='lxx-brenton-gr' and std_ref='Isa.40.31' and text like '%πτεροφυήσουσιν%'
23
Checked in this site's verse database: Bible DB: Brenton English Isa 40:31↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
How this was derived
select count(*) from verses where work_id='brenton' and std_ref='Isa.40.31' and text like '%put forth new feathers%'
24
Isaiah 40:1–2↩
25
Isaiah 40:28↩^a ↩^b
26
Isaiah 40:30↩^a ↩^b
27
Checked in this site's verse database: Bible DB: yaga/ya'af in Isa 40:28-31↩^a ↩^b
How this was derived
select group_concat(std_ref, ',') from (select distinct std_ref from tokens where root_strong in ('H3021','H3286') and std_ref in ('Isa.40.28','Isa.40.29','Isa.40.30','Isa.40.31') order by std_ref)
28
Psalms 103:5↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h ↩ⁱ ↩^j
29
Physiologus, tr. James Carlill (1924), Physiologus, 'The Eagle', in The Epic of the Beast, p. 209↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
30
Augustine, tr. NPNF (New Advent), Exposition on Psalm 103 (102), section 8↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
31
Isaiah 40:12–26↩
32
Logos Staff, summarising Eric Tully, “Why Christians Miss the Point of One of Their Favorite Bible Verses” (2016)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
33
Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7), tr. after A. K. Grayson (1975), ABC 7 (Nabonidus Chronicle), Livius.org, iii.18↩
34
Jona Lendering (Livius.org), “ABC 7 (Nabonidus Chronicle), introduction and notes”↩
35
Edward J. Young, “The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah” (1958), Christianity Today, 17 March 1958↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
36
Johann Cook, “The text-critical and exegetical value of the Dead Sea Scrolls” (2016), HTS Teologiese Studies 72(4), a3280, section on 1QIsaa↩^a ↩^b
James Carlill, Introduction to 'Physiologus', in The Epic of the Beast (1924)
- 37
  Introduction↩
- 38
  History and Contents of the Physiologus↩
39
Rashi, tr. A. J. Rosenberg (Judaica Press), Rashi on Psalms 103:5 (Sefaria)↩
40
David Kimhi (Radak), Radak on Isaiah 40:31 (Sefaria, Hebrew)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h ↩ⁱ ↩^j ↩^k
44
Hebcal, “Parashat Lech-Lecha”↩^a ↩^b
45
Orthodox Church in America, “Scripture Readings, Tuesday, April 12, 2005”↩
46
Logos Staff, “Why Christians Miss the Point of One of Their Favorite Bible Verses” (2016)↩
47
Australian Presbyterian, “Paris 24 - A Hundred Years: the Story of Eric Liddell” (2024)↩
48
Targum Jonathan, tr. C. W. H. Pauli (1871), Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 40:31 (Sefaria)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
49
David Altschuler (Metzudat David), Metzudat David on Isaiah 40:31 (Sefaria, Hebrew)↩^a ↩^b
50
Adin Steinsaltz, The Steinsaltz Tanakh, Isaiah 40:31 (Sefaria, English)↩^a ↩^b
51
Checked in this site's verse database: Bible DB: editions of Isa 40:31 using 'hope in'↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
How this was derived
select group_concat(work_id, ',') from (select work_id from verses where std_ref='Isa.40.31' and text like '%hope in%' order by work_id)
56
BibleProject, “What Does Isaiah 40:31 (Wings Like Eagles Verse) Mean?”↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
57
Rikki E. Watts, “Consolation or Confrontation? Isaiah 40-55 and the Delay of the New Exodus” (1990), Tyndale Bulletin 41.1, p. 31↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
George Adam Smith, The Book of Isaiah, vol. 2 (The Expositor's Bible) (1904)
- 58
  ch. on Isa 40:12-31, p. 103↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 65
  ch. on Isa 40:12-31, God: a Sacrament↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
59
Jeffrey R. Holland, “Waiting on the Lord (General Conference, October 2020)”↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
60
Checked in this site's verse database: BDB entry for H6960A↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g ↩^h
How this was derived
select a.text from lexicon_links l join lexicon_articles a on a.lexicon=l.lexicon and a.id=l.article_id where l.strong='H6960A' and l.lexicon='BDB'
61
Checked in this site's verse database: Strong's Hebrew entry for H6960A↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
How this was derived
select a.text from lexicon_links l join lexicon_articles a on a.lexicon=l.lexicon and a.id=l.article_id where l.strong='H6960A' and l.lexicon='StrongsHebrew'
62
Checked in this site's verse database: BDB entries for tiqvah (H8615A, H8615B)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
How this was derived
select group_concat(a.text, ' || ') from lexicon_links l join lexicon_articles a on a.lexicon=l.lexicon and a.id=l.article_id where l.strong in ('H8615A','H8615B') and l.lexicon='BDB'
63
Checked in this site's verse database: BDB entry for H5404↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
How this was derived
select a.text from lexicon_links l join lexicon_articles a on a.lexicon=l.lexicon and a.id=l.article_id where l.strong='H5404' and l.lexicon='BDB'
64
Checked in this site's verse database: Bible DB: editions of Isa 40:31 using 'wait'↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
How this was derived
select group_concat(work_id, ',') from (select work_id from verses where std_ref='Isa.40.31' and text like '%wait%' order by work_id)
66
Joshua 2:18↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
67
Checked in this site's verse database: Bible DB: tiqvah in Josh 2:18↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
How this was derived
select gloss from tokens where std_ref='Josh.2.18' and root_strong='H8615A'
68
Checked in this site's verse database: Bible DB: KJV footnote on Isa 40:31↩
How this was derived
select n.body from verse_notes n join verses v on v.id=n.verse_id where v.std_ref='Isa.40.31' and v.work_id='kjv' and n.kind='footnote'
69
Checked in this site's verse database: BDB entry for H2498↩
How this was derived
select a.text from lexicon_links l join lexicon_articles a on a.lexicon=l.lexicon and a.id=l.article_id where l.strong='H2498' and l.lexicon='BDB'
70
Micah 1:16↩^a ↩^b
72
Checked in this site's verse database: Bible DB: nesher in selected verses↩^a ↩^b
How this was derived
select group_concat(std_ref, ',') from (select distinct std_ref from tokens where root_strong='H5404' and std_ref in ('Exod.19.4','Deut.32.11','Ps.103.5','Isa.40.31','Mic.1.16','Job.39.27') order by std_ref)
73
Isaiah 44:28↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
74
Isaiah 45:1↩^a ↩^b
75
Isaiah 1:1↩^a ↩^b
76
Flavius Josephus, tr. William Whiston (1737), Antiquities of the Jews, 11.1.2↩^a ↩^b
77
Exodus 19:4↩

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What the texts say

Background

The promise ends an argument about God Text

Exile and the question of composition Scholarship

What the Great Isaiah Scroll's layout is said to show Scholarship

Stories of the eagle growing young Tradition

Legend, not natural history Scholarship

Where the verse is read and seen Tradition

Where else Scripture speaks of it

How the traditions read it

Jewish: rabbinic · Hope for salvation, gathered from captivity

Jewish: medieval commentator · Israel's strength and return

Jewish: modern · The nation encouraged

Early church: Greek · Renewal through Christ

Early church: Latin · Resurrection and an immortal body

Protestant: Reformed · Patient dependence, applied beyond the exile

Protestant: Lutheran · Waiting as faith

Protestant: evangelical · Remembering God's power

Academic (critical) · Exiles addressed, composition argued

Jehovah's Witnesses · Hoping in Jehovah

Latter-day Saints · Relief in personal trials

Common misunderstandings

Words worth a closer look

Isaiah 40:31 · “qavah — wait or hope” קוה

Joshua 2:18 · “The cord explanation”

Isaiah 40:31 · “Renew or change strength”

Isaiah 40:31 · “Soaring, raised wings or new feathers”

Micah 1:16 · “nesher — eagle or vulture” נשר

History and evidence

Waiting here means expectant hope or trust, not idle delay.

The bird in Isaiah's image is specifically a griffon vulture.

Isaiah's wing clause describes growing new plumage.

The promise answers Israel's complaint and is addressed to the people in exile.

Isaiah 40 was composed in the setting of Cyrus's rise rather than by Isaiah for a later audience.

God renews the strength of people who trust him.

Hard questions

Does "wait" mean sitting still, or is "hope" the better word?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

Plain assessment

Does the eagle image rest on the legend of an eagle growing young again?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

Plain assessment

Who was addressed, and does an exilic audience mean a later author?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

Plain assessment

Is this a promise to Israel in exile, or to anyone who needs strength?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

Plain assessment

Did the promise outrun what happened?

The strongest case

Strongest responses

Plain assessment

Check yourself

Who is named in the complaint before the promise?

Why does the passage mention young people's exhaustion?

Does the psalm describe an eagle diving into a spring to regain its youth?

For reflection

Keep going

Crossing the Red Sea (and did the Exodus happen?)

Rahab and the fall of Jericho

Plain citation

Chicago-style note

BibTeX

Sources

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