Isaiah 40:15

Isaiah 40:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
• New International Version (NIV)Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.

Context of Isaiah 40:15

13Nobody understands the mind of the Lord. Nobody can be his advisor, to tell him what he should do. 14He does not ask anyone to be his guide. Nobody can teach him the proper way to do things. Nobody can give him knowledge. Nobody can teach him how to understand things. The Lord looks at the nations as if they are a little bit of water in a bucket. They are like dust on his scales. He weighs the islands as he would weigh dust. 16All the trees from Lebanon's forests are not enough to make a fire for his altar. All its animals are not enough to offer to him as burnt offerings. 17All the nations in the world are not important to the Lord. He sees them as empty and useless.

Isaiah 40:15 word by word

הֵ֤ן גּוֹיִם֙ כְּמַ֣ר מִדְּלִ֔י וּכְשַׁ֥חַק מֹאזְנַ֖יִם נֶחְשָׁ֑בוּ הֵ֥ן אִיִּ֖ים כַּדַּ֥ק יִטּֽוֹל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold, the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• as a dropמַרmar · dropH4752
• of a bucketדְּלִיdelîy dŏlîy · bucketH1805
• and are countedחָשַׁבchâshab · to devise: countH2803
• as the small dustשַׁ֫חַקshachaq · cloudH7834
• of the balanceמֹאזֵןmô'zên · balanceH3976
• behold, he taketh upנָטַלnâţal · to liftH5190
• the islesאִי'îy · coastlandH339
• as a very little thingדַּקdaq · thinH1851

Cross-references for Isaiah 40:15

• Isaiah 38:22Hezekiah had asked, ‘What will show me that I will be able to go up to the Lord's temple?’
• Job 34:14God could decide to remove life from the world. He could take back his spirit and his breath.
• Jeremiah 10:10But the Lord is the only true God. He is the God who is alive. He is the King who rules for ever. When he is angry, the earth shakes. None of the nations can stop his anger.
• Isaiah 11:11And on that day, the Lord God will bring his people back once again. He will lift up his powerful hand to rescue his people who are still alive. He will bring them back from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath and from countries near the sea.
• Isaiah 41:5The people on the islands see what I am doing, and they are afraid. People all over the world shake with fear. They join together and they come near.
• Isaiah 59:18He will punish his enemies for the bad things that they have done. He will be very angry with them. He will punish all his enemies, even those who live in lands far away.
• Isaiah 66:19I will do a great thing among them, to show them my power. I will send some of the people who are still alive to other nations. They will go to: Tarshish, Libya, Lydia (where their soldiers shoot arrows very well), Tubal, Greece, and lands far away, where people have never heard about me and they do not know how great I am. Those people will tell other nations about my great glory.’
• Genesis 10:5These people lived by the sea. They lived in groups. Each group went to live in a different place. Each group spoke its own language.
• Daniel 11:18After this, he will decide to attack the countries near the sea. He will take many of their cities for himself. But an officer of a foreign army will stop him. He will cause the king of the north to stop boasting. He will no longer be proud but he will be ashamed.
• Zephaniah 2:11The Lord will make them afraid. He will destroy all the false gods. People will worship him instead. Every person, in his own place, will worship God. They will also worship him in the places where the people now believe in false gods.

Commentaries on Isaiah 40:15

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Behold, the nations - All the nations of the earth. This is designed to show the greatness of God, in comparison with that which strikes man as great - a mighty nation; and the main object seems to be, to show that God could accomplish his purposes without their aid, and that they could not resist him in the execution of his plans. If they were as nothing in comparison with him, how easily could he execute his purposes! If they were as nothing, how little…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. 15God rules over all nations and their power structures. Compared to God, they are almost nothing. This includes the Babylonian Empire, which was just a tool in God's hand.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. of--rather, (hanging) from a bucket [Maurer]. he taketh up ... as a very little thing--rather, "are as a mere grain of dust which is taken up," namely, by the wind; literally, "one taketh up," impersonally (Ex 16:14) [Maurer]. isles--rather, "lands" in general, answering to "the nations" in the parallel clause; perhaps lands, like Mesopotamia, enclosed by rivers [Jerome] (so Is 42:15). However, English Version, "isles" answers well to "mountains" (Is…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 40:15

• Balances
• Bucket
• God Continued...
• Idolatry
• Readings, Select

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Bucket
• Carry
• Cry
• Feed
• Renew
• Balance
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah (2)
• John, Gospel of

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