American Standard Version
Isaiah 40:13
13Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
Isaiah 40:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
- New International Version (NIV)Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him?
Context of Isaiah 40:13
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those that have their young. 12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? 15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:13 word by word
מִֽי־תִכֵּ֥ן אֶת־ר֖וּחַ יְהוָ֑ה וְאִ֥ישׁ עֲצָת֖וֹ יוֹדִיעֶֽנּוּ׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:13
- Job 21:22Shall any teach God knowledge, Seeing he judgeth those that are high?
- Job 36:22Behold, God doeth loftily in his power: Who is a teacher like unto him?
- Luke 10:22All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth who the Son is, save the Father; and who the Father is, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.
- John 1:13who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
- Romans 11:34For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
- 1 Corinthians 2:16For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
- Ephesians 1:11in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will;
Commentaries on Isaiah 40:13
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Who hath directed - This passage is quoted by Paul in Romans 11:34, and referred to by him in 1 Corinthians 2:16. The word rendered directed‘ here (תכן tikēn ) is the same which is used in the previous verse, and meted out heaven.‘ The idea here is, Who has fitted, or disposed the mind or spirit of Yahweh? What superior being has ordered, instructed, or disposed his understanding? Who has qualified him for the exercise of his wisdom, or for the formation…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 All created beings shrink to nothing in comparison with the Creator. When the Lord, by his Spirit, made the world, none directed his Spirit, or gave advice what to do, or how to do it. The nations, in comparison of him, are as a drop which remains in the bucket, compared with the vast ocean; or as the small dust in the balance, which does not turn it, compared with all the earth. This magnifies God's love to the world, that, though it is of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-13These rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “No one!” God alone created everything. He will judge creation (Isaiah 24:17), and only he can and will restore it through his salvation.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Quoted in Ro 11:34; 1Co 2:16. The Hebrew here for "directed" is the same as in Is 40:12 for "meted out"; thus the sense is, "Jehovah measures out heaven with His span"; but who can measure Him? that is, Who can search out His Spirit (mind) wherewith He searches out and accurately adjusts all things? Maurer rightly takes the Hebrew in the same sense as in Is 40:12 (so Pr 16:2; 21:2), "weigh," "ponder." "Direct," as in English Version, answers, however…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 40:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 40
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries