New English Translation
Isaiah 40:13
13Who comprehends the mind of the Lord, or gives him instruction as his counselor?
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 tends his flock; he gathers up the lambs with his arm; he carries them close to his heart; he leads the ewes along. 12Who has measured out the waters in the hollow of his hand, or carefully measured the sky, or carefully weighed the soil of the earth, or weighed the mountains in a balance, or the hills on scales? Who comprehends the mind of the Lord, or gives him instruction as his counselor? 14From whom does he receive directions? Who teaches him the correct way to do things, or imparts knowledge to him, or instructs him in skillful design? 15Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales. He lifts the coastlands as if they were 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 21:22Can anyone teach God knowledge, since he judges those that are on high?
- Job 36:22Indeed, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him?
- Luke 10:22All things have been given to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him.”
- John 1:13– children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.
- Romans 11:34For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?
- 1 Corinthians 2:16For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.
- Ephesians 1:11In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries