Isaiah 40:21

Isaiah 40:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
• New International Version (NIV)Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

Context of Isaiah 40:21

19Craftsmen make idols. Goldsmiths cover them with gold. Silversmiths make silver chains for them. 20The poorest people choose wood that will not rot and search out skillful craftsmen to set up idols that will not fall over. Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Don’t you understand the foundations of the earth? 22God is enthroned above the earth, and those who live on it are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the sky like a canopy and spreads it out like a tent to live in. 23He makes rulers unimportant and makes earthly judges worth nothing.

Isaiah 40:21 word by word

הֲל֤וֹא תֵֽדְעוּ֙ הֲל֣וֹא תִשְׁמָ֔עוּ הֲל֛וֹא הֻגַּ֥ד מֵרֹ֖אשׁ לָכֶ֑ם הֲלוֹא֙ הֲבִ֣ינֹתֶ֔ם מוֹסְד֖וֹת הָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Have ye not knownיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• have ye not heardשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
• hath it not been toldנָגַדnâgad · to tellH5046
• you from the beginningרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: firstH7218
• have ye not understoodבִּיןbîyn · to understandH995
• from the foundationsמוֹסָדָהmôsâdâh môsâdâh · foundationH4146
• of the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776

Cross-references for Isaiah 40:21

• Isaiah 27:11When the branches are dried up, they will be broken off. Women will come and build a fire with them. These people don’t understand ⌞these things⌟. That is why their maker won’t have compassion on them, and their Creator won’t have pity on them.
• Isaiah 44:20They eat ashes because they are deceived. Their own misguided minds lead them astray. They can’t rescue themselves or ask themselves, “Isn’t what I hold in my right hand a false god?”
• Isaiah 46:8Remember this, and take courage. Recall your rebellious acts.
• Psalms 19:1The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky displays what his hands have made.
• Psalms 115:8Those who make idols end up like them. So does everyone who trusts them.
• Jeremiah 10:8They are complete idiots. They learn nonsense from wooden idols.
• Acts 14:17Yet, by doing good, he has given evidence of his existence. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and your lives with happiness.”
• Romans 1:19What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them.
• Romans 3:1Is there any advantage, then, in being a Jew? Or is there any value in being circumcised?

Commentaries on Isaiah 40:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Have ye not known - On this verse Kimchi has a very interesting comment, an extract of which I subjoin. "The whole world may be considered as a house built up; heaven its roof; the stars its lamps; and the fruits of the earth its table spread. The Master of the house is God, blessed for ever; and man is the steward into whose hand all the business of the house is given. If he always consider in his heart that the Master of the house is continually over…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Have ye not known? - This is evidently an address to the worshippers of idols, and either designed to be addressed to the Jews themselves in the times of Manasseh, when idolatry abounded, or to all idolaters. The prophet had in the previous verses shown the manner in which the idols were made, and the folly of regarding them as objects of worship. He now turns and addresses the worshippers of these idols, as being without excuse. They might have known…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-26Verses 18-26 Whatever we esteem or love, fear or hope in, more than God, that creature we make equal with God, though we do not make images or worship them. He that is so poor, that he has scarcely a sacrifice to offer, yet will not be without a god of his own. They spared no cost upon their idols; we grudge what is spent in the service of our God. To prove the greatness of God, the prophet appeals to all ages and nations. Those who are ignorant of this…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21Idol worshipers do not recognize God or respond wisely to him. The faithful in Israel understand and see God's role in the story of redemption, which includes both exile and restoration (Isaiah 41:20).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. ye--who worship idols. The question emphatically implies, they had known. from the beginning--(Is 41:4, 26; 48:16). God is the beginning (Re 1:8). The tradition handed down from the very first, of the creation of all things by God at the beginning, ought to convince you of His omnipotence and of the folly of idolatry.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 40:21

• Blindness
• God Continued...
• Idolatry
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In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Carry
• Cry
• Feed
• Renew
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah (2)
• John, Gospel of
• Leviticus
• Philosophy

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