English Standard Version
Isaiah 40:17
17All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
Isaiah 40:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
- New International Version (NIV)Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
- New King James Version (NKJV)All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.
Context of Isaiah 40:17
15Behold, 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. 16Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. 18To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? 19An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:17 word by word
כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֖ם כְּאַ֣יִן נֶגְדּ֑וֹ מֵאֶ֥פֶס וָתֹ֖הוּ נֶחְשְׁבוּ־לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:17
- Job 25:6how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!"
- Psalms 62:9Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
- Daniel 4:34At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
- 2 Corinthians 12:11I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
Commentaries on Isaiah 40:17
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Are as nothing - This expresses literally what had been expressed by the beautiful and striking imagery above. Less than nothing - A strong hyperbolic expression denoting the utter insignificance of the nations as compared with God. Such expressions are common in the Scriptures. And vanity - Hebrew, תהו tôhû - Emptiness;‘ the word which in Genesis 1:2 is rendered without form.‘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. 17The nations, including their leaders (Isaiah 40:23), pagan structures (41:24, 29; 44:9–11), and all enemies of God's people (41:11–12), are worth nothing apart from God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. (Psa 62:9; Da 4:35). less than nothing--Maurer translates, as in Is 41:24, "of nothing" (partitively; or expressive of the nature of a thing), a mere nothing. vanity--emptiness.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 40:17
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
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