God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 40:23
23He makes rulers unimportant and makes earthly judges worth nothing.
Isaiah 40:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
- New International Version (NIV)He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
- English Standard Version (ESV)who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.
Context of Isaiah 40:23
21Don’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. He makes rulers unimportant and makes earthly judges worth nothing. 24They have hardly been planted. They have hardly been sown. They have hardly taken root in the ground. Then he blows on them and they wither, and a windstorm sweeps them away like straw. 25“To whom, then, can you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:23 word by word
הַנּוֹתֵ֥ן רוֹזְנִ֖ים לְאָ֑יִן שֹׁ֥פְטֵי אֶ֖רֶץ כַּתֹּ֥הוּ עָשָֽׂה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:23
- Isaiah 19:13The leaders of Zoan are acting foolishly. The leaders of Memphis are led astray. The leaders who are the cornerstones of its tribes mislead the Egyptians.
- Isaiah 23:9The Lord of Armies planned this in order to dishonor all arrogant people and to humiliate all the honored people of the world.
- Isaiah 24:21On that day the Lord will punish heaven’s armies in heaven and earth’s kings on earth.
- Job 12:21He pours contempt on influential people and unbuckles the belt of the mighty.
- Job 34:19The one who is righteous and mighty does not grant special favors to princes or prefer important people over poor people because his hands made them all.
- Psalms 76:12He cuts short the lives of influential people. He terrifies the kings of the earth.
- Psalms 107:40He poured contempt on their influential people and made them stumble around in a pathless desert.
- Jeremiah 25:18Jerusalem and the cities of Judah as well as its kings and officials. When they drank from it, they became wastelands and ruins, something ridiculed and cursed, until today.
- Luke 1:52He pulled strong rulers from their thrones. He honored humble people.
- Revelation 19:18Eat the flesh of kings, generals, warriors, horses and their riders, and all free people and slaves, both important or insignificant people.”
Commentaries on Isaiah 40:23
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23That bringeth the princes to nothing - That is, all princes and kings. No matter how great their power, their wealth, and their dignity, they are, by his hand, reduced to nothing before him. The design of this passage is to contrast the majesty of God with that of princes and nobles, and to show how far he excels them all. The general truth is therefore stated, that all monarchs are by him removed from their thrones, and consigned to nothing. The same…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. 23princes: God is not impressed by human power or fame. Human strength and reputation do not change who God is.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. (Psa 107:4; Da 2:21). judges--that is, rulers; for these exercised judicial authority (Psa 2:10). The Hebrew, shophtee, answers to the Carthaginian chief magistrates, suffetes.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 40:23
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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