Taking a little time to examin the Hebrew or Greek our favorite verses are translated from can be very rewarding. Isaiah 40:31 is a verse almost everybody knows by heart, and most of us hear the melody of the song from said verse when we read it. It’s very well known, yet, we tend to think we know what it means without taking a minute or two to varify our assumptions. So, this morning, when I stumbled upon the verse while studying something else I took a moment to look over the original language. One word in particular caught my attention, “wait.”

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait (qāwâ) for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Is 40:30-31 ESV

qāwâ (קָוָה). v. to wait; to hope. This verb denotes the act of hopefully waiting. This verb basically refers to hoping or waiting expectantly; this involves trusting that the thing awaited will take place. It is often used of waiting hopefully for God (e.g., Gen 49:18; Psa 25:5; Jer 14:22).¹

So, Is 40:31 could read like this:

but they who [wait expectantly] for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Finding out what meaning behind the English word “wait” that was used while translating this verse really opens up a refreshingly new understanding of what was trying to be portraide. Waiting expectantly, not just waiting, but waiting “trusting that the thing awaited will take place,” is very refreshing indeed. That is why and how we can mount up with wings like eagles, run and not be weary, [and] walk and not faint.

Adonai, teach us to wait.

Song (YouTube): Isaiah 40:31, (but he that wait on the Lord)