Isaiah 40:4

 Isaiah 40:4

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

a. NASB 2020:  “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; 

And let the uneven ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;  [NASB20] New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. YLT: Every valley is raised up, And every mountain and hill become low, And the crooked place hath become a plain, And the entangled places a valley.   [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified:  Every valley shall be lifted and filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked and uneven shall be made straight and level, and the rough places a plain.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. The Milstein Edition, Later Prophets, Isaiah. With Rabbinic Commentary: Every valley will be raised, and every mountain and hill will be lowered; the crooked will be revealed, and all flesh together will see that the mouth of HASHEM has spoken. [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES\MILSTEIN EDITION THE LATTER PROPHETS, ISAIAH Ⓒ Copyright 2013 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

1. “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low…”

a. Every [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

b. valley [Strong: 1516 gayʼ, gah'-ee; or (shortened) גַּי gay; probably (by transmutation) from the same root as H1466 (abbreviated); a gorge (from its lofty sides; hence, narrow, but not a gully or winter-torrent):—valley.]

c. [shall be] exalted [Strong: 5375  nâsâʼ, naw-saw'; or נָסָה nâçâh; (Psalm 4:6 [7]), a primitive root; to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative:—accept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable ( man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, × needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, swear, take (away, up), × utterly, wear, yield.]

d. [and] every [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

e. mountain [Strong: 2022 har, har; a shortened form of H2042; a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively):—hill (country), mount(-ain), × promotion.]

f. [and] hill [Strong: 1389 gibʻâh, ghib-aw'; feminine from the same as H1387; a hillock:—hill, little hill.]

g. [shall be made] low [Strong: 8213 shâphêl, shaw-fale'; a primitive root; to depress or sink (especially figuratively, to humiliate, intransitive or transitive):—abase, bring (cast, put) down, debase, humble (self), be (bring, lay, make, put) low(-er).]

2. “...and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:”

a. [and the] crooked [Strong: 6121 ʻâqôb, aw-kobe'; from H6117; in the original sense, a knoll (as swelling up); in the denominative sense (transitive) fraudulent or (intransitive) tracked:—crooked, deceitful, polluted.]

b. [shall be] made [Strong: 1961 hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

c. straight [Strong: 4334 mîyshôwr, mee-shore'; or מִישֹׁר mîyshôr; from H3474; a level, i.e. a plain (often used (with the article prefix) as a proper name of certain districts); figuratively, concord; also straightness, i.e. (figuratively) justice (sometimes adverbially, justly):—equity, even place, plain, right(-eously), (made) straight, uprightness.]

d. [and the] rough [places] [Strong: 7406 rekeç, reh'-kes; from H7405; a mountain ridge (as of tied summits):—rough place.]

e. plain [Strong: 1237 biqʻâh, bik-aw'; from H1234; properly, a split, i.e. a wide level valley between mountains:—plain, valley.]

1). Institute of Creation Research Days of Praise 2/21/15: This is an amazing promise. In the primeval “very good” creation (Genesis 1:31), there was nothing “crooked” or “rough.” Even the hills and mountains were apparently gentle in slope and relatively low; the rugged mountain ranges and volcanic peaks of the present world date from the upheavals and residual catastrophism of the great Flood (see especially Psalm 104:5-9). God had instructed men and women to literally “fill” the earth (Genesis 1:28), which would indicate that no part of the lands was uninhabitable. That is not the way it is now. Vast inaccessible mountain ranges, deserts, glaciers, swamplands, etc., abound, all basically as a result of sin and God’s curse on the ground (Genesis 3:17). But in the coming period of God’s judgments on the rebellious world of mankind, there also will be extensive renovational physical changes accompanying them. For example, there will be such “a great earthquake” that “every mountain and island were moved out of their places” (Revelation 6:12, 14). Then a few years later will follow an even greater global earthquake—“so mighty an earthquake, and so great” that “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” (Revelation 16:18, 20). “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; . . . I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come” (Haggai 2:6-7). Finally, indeed, “every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:4-5). HMM