God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 40:13
13Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord or instructed him as his adviser?
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
11Like a shepherd he takes care of his flock. He gathers the lambs in his arms. He carries them in his arms. He gently helps the sheep and their lambs. 12Who has measured the water of the sea with the palm of his hand or measured the sky with the length of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a bushel basket or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills on a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord or instructed him as his adviser? 14Whom did he consult? Who gave him understanding? Who taught him the right way? Who taught him knowledge? Who informed him about the way to understanding? 15The nations are like a drop in a bucket and are considered to be like dust on a scale. The weight of the islands is like fine dust.
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:13 word by word
מִֽי־תִכֵּ֥ן אֶת־ר֖וּחַ יְהוָ֑ה וְאִ֥ישׁ עֲצָת֖וֹ יוֹדִיעֶֽנּוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:13
- Job 21:22“Can anyone teach God knowledge? Can anyone judge the Most High?
- Job 36:22“God does great things by his power. Is there any teacher like him?
- Luke 10:22“My Father has turned everything over to me. Only the Father knows who the Son is. And no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son is willing to reveal him.”
- John 1:13These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire ⌞to have a child⌟. They were born from God.
- Romans 11:34“Who knows how the Lord thinks? Who can become his adviser?”
- 1 Corinthians 2:16“Who has known the mind of the Lord so that he can teach him?” However, we have the mind of Christ.
- Ephesians 1:11God also decided ahead of time to choose us through Christ according to his plan, which makes everything work the way he intends.
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
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