In verses 6-7 the people of the world turn to one another and to their own gods for comfort because of their fear of Cyrus’ advance and their awe of God’s power. Bible en français courant has a footnote on these verses, saying they repeat the theme of 40.19-20. As noted in the comments on 40.20, Revised English Bible and New American Bible place these verses after 40.20, but we do not recommend this. They fit well in this context.

Every one helps his neighbor: The people of the world help each other. The Hebrew words rendered Every one (literally “A man”) and his neighbor have a generic sense here, referring to each person offering support for others. See 13.8, where these two words are rendered “They … one another” (compare 3.5; 19.2). The verb helps is a key term for this section (see verses 10, 13-14). For this line New Revised Standard Version has “Each one helps the other,” and Nouvelle Bible Segond says “They help each other.”

And says to his brother, “Take courage!: This line is parallel to the previous one. Everyone also encourages each other. Brother has a generic sense here, referring to anyone else. It may be rendered “the other.” The Hebrew verb rendered Take courage is literally “Strengthen.” It is a key verb in this subsection since it occurs two more times in the next verse, where it is rendered “encourages” and “fasten.” New International Version says “Be strong!” Since they are encouraging each other, another possible rendering is “Let’s have courage!”

Good News Translation limits this verse to the craftsmen of the world, saying “The skilled workers help and encourage each other” (similarly Bible en français courant). It does this in light of the following verse, which refers to these workers who make idols. However, in the context of the previous verse it is better to include all the people of the world here, and then in verse 7 to refer only to their craftsmen.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Everyone helps his or her neighbor,
saying to the other, ‘Have courage!’

• Neighbors help one another and say, ‘Let’s be strong!’

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .