Divine Council in Isaiah 40

Stephen Smoot in "The Divine Council in the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon" wrote the following about the Divine Council in the book of Isaiah:

Another instance in the Hebrew Bible where we encounter a plurality in the text is the fortieth chapter of Isaiah: “Comfort [נחמו; naḥămû], O comfort [נחמו; naḥămû] my people, says your God [אלהיכם; ’ēlōhêykem]. Speak [דברו; dabĕrû] tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry [קראו; qîrĕ’û] to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1–2). This passage employs the plural imperative suffix on the verbs throughout. Likewise, the subject ’ēlōhîm features the masculine plural possessive suffix. This, in conjunction with other evidence, has lead scholars to conclude the divine council is being addressed in this text.⁴¹ As summarized by J. J. M. Roberts, in this passage “God commissions the divine council to issue a message of consolation to the people of Israel, and the prophet, who overhears the voices of the council, clarifies the message …. [The] imperatives are all plural, addressed to the angelic members of God’s royal council.”⁴²

Notes for the Above:

41. Frank M. Cross Jr., “The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 12, no. 4 (Oct. 1953): 274–77; Christopher R. Seitz, “The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah,” Journal of Biblical Literature 109, no. 2 (1990): 229–47.

42. J. J. M. Roberts, “Isaiah,” in The HarperCollins Study Bible, 961.