God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 40:17
17All the nations amount to nothing in his presence. He considers them less than nothing and worthless.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
Context of Isaiah 40:17
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. 16All the trees in Lebanon are not enough to burn an offering. Its wild animals are not enough for a single burnt offering. All the nations amount to nothing in his presence. He considers them less than nothing and worthless. 18To whom, then, can you compare God? To what statue can you compare him? 19Craftsmen make idols. Goldsmiths cover them with gold. Silversmiths make silver chains for them.
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 pure is a mortal—who is only a maggot— a descendant of Adam—who is only a worm!”
- Psalms 62:9Common people are only a whisper in the wind. Important people are only a delusion. When all of them are weighed on a scale, they amount to nothing. They are less than a whisper in the wind.
- Daniel 4:34At the end of the seven time periods, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my mind came back to me. I thanked the Most High, and I praised and honored the one who lives forever, because his power lasts forever and his kingdom lasts from one generation to the next.
- 2 Corinthians 12:11I have become a fool. You forced me to be one. You should have recommended me to others. Even if I’m nothing, I wasn’t inferior in any way to your super-apostles.
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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