Text: Isaiah 40:3-4
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 23:20-21
Subject: preparing the way through the wilderness
Source: Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1866)
Reference Type: Echo
Connection Method(s): None
Anchor Text: Isa 40:3 — A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
Significance: Isaiah 40:3-4 calls for preparing "the way of the LORD" (דֶּרֶךְ יְהוָה, derekh YHWH) in the wilderness, echoing Exodus 23:20-21 where God promises to send an angel "before you to protect you along the way (בַּדֶּרֶךְ, baderekh) and to bring you to the place I have prepared." Both passages envision God clearing a path for His people through hostile terrain — Exodus through the wilderness to Canaan, Isaiah through the desert for the return from exile. The voice commanding that valleys be raised and mountains made low (Isa 40:4) transforms the angel's protective role in Exodus into a cosmic highway-construction project, escalating the original exodus motif into a vision of divine road-building where every obstacle is supernaturally removed for the returning people.