Isaiah 40:3–5

All Flesh Shall See

Messiah removed

Quoted by the apostles in Luke 3:4–6, in the older Greek wording

Side by Side

The Older Text

Septuagint, translated before Messiah

And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken it.

The Later Text

Masoretic, finished about 1,000 years after the cross

And the glory of Yahuah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of Yahuah hath spoken it.

Quoted in Luke 3:6

Luke’s account of John the Baptist

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Your KJV reads: “shall see it together” in Isaiah, following the later Hebrew, and “the salvation of God” in Luke, following the Greek.

See what changed and why ↓

What Your Bible Says

Luke opens John the Baptist’s work with Isaiah 40. A voice cries in the wilderness. Valleys are filled, mountains brought low. Then the quotation ends with the goal of it all:

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Luke 3:6 KJV

John prepared the way, and the One who came after him was the deliverance of Elohim made visible.

What the Jewish Bible Says

And the glory of Yahuah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of Yahuah hath spoken it.
Isaiah 40:5 KJV

In the later Hebrew, all flesh sees “it” together. The word “it” is not in the Hebrew; the translators supplied it. The glory is revealed, but nothing is named for the nations to see, and so nothing for Luke to point to.

What Changed

The closing words of the prophecy. The Hebrew copies may never have had the words, but the older text names what all flesh will see: the salvation of God. The later text says only that they will see it together.

The Hebrew word for deliverance, yeshuah, is the word at the heart of Yahushua’s name. When old Simeon took the child in his arms, he said, “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luke 2:30). Luke uses the same promise for the same Person.

A prophecy that ends with “see it together” leaves the reader asking what “it” is. The older text answers before the question is asked.

Which One Is Right?

The Greek Bible, translated before Messiah, reads “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Luke quotes that wording as the fulfillment of John’s ministry.

Isaiah himself uses the same promise in Hebrew a few chapters later: “All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:10).

The Masoretic text of Isaiah 40:5 reads “see it together.”

Purpose of the Change

Without the words “the salvation of God,” Isaiah 40 ends with glory in general and nothing named for the nations to see. The effect is that Luke’s quotation seems to add to the prophet, and the deliverance John announced is no longer named in the verse.

The Bottom Line

Luke quoted the older text: all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

At the end, the great multitude sees it and gives it to the right One: “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10).

Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it

The Whole Quotation

Luke quotes Isaiah 40:3–5 at length, from the voice in the wilderness to the valleys and the crooked paths. All of it follows the Greek closely, and the final line is the one the later Hebrew does not have. Matthew, Mark, and John quote only the voice in the wilderness.

Every Valley

Luke carries the prophecy through the valleys and hills:

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth.
Luke 3:5 KJV

The road is leveled for a reason. Something is coming down it that all flesh will see. In the Greek, and in Luke, Isaiah names it.

Deliverance Belongs to Yahuah

The promise is “the salvation of God,” not deliverance by a second God. Yahuah is the one who saves (Isaiah 43:11). The Son is the way that deliverance was made visible. Revelation 7:10 keeps them distinct: “Salvation to our God” on the throne, and to the Lamb.

An Honest Note

No Hebrew copy of Isaiah 40:5 has yet been found with the words “salvation of God.” The phrase does appear in the Hebrew of Isaiah 52:10, and some think the Greek translators carried it over from there to say what “it” was. Either way, the Greek said it before Messiah came, Luke quoted it as Scripture, and it matches what Isaiah says elsewhere in his own Hebrew.