Isaiah 41:24

Isaiah 41:24 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination.
• New Living Translation (NLT)But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. Those who choose you pollute themselves.

Context of Isaiah 41:24

22“Tell us, you idols, what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, 23tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear. But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; whoever chooses you is detestable. 25“I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes— one from the rising sun who calls on my name. He treads on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay. 26Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know, or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’? No one told of this, no one foretold it, no one heard any words from you.

Isaiah 41:24 word by word

הֵן־אַתֶּ֣ם מֵאַ֔יִן וּפָעָלְכֶ֖ם מֵאָ֑פַע תּוֹעֵבָ֖ה יִבְחַ֥ר בָּכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• of nothingאַ֫יִן'ayin · nothingH369
• and your workפֹּ֫עַלpô‛al · workH6467
• of noughtאֶ֫פַע'êpha‛ · worthlessH659
• an abominationתּוֹעֵבַהtô‛êbah tô‛êbah · abominationH8441
• choosethבָּחַרbâchar · to chooseH977

Cross-references for Isaiah 41:24

• Isaiah 41:29See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion.
• Isaiah 44:9All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.
• Psalms 115:8Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
• Jeremiah 10:8They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
• Jeremiah 51:17“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.
• 1 Corinthians 8:4So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”
• Isaiah 66:24“And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
• Deuteronomy 7:26Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.
• Deuteronomy 27:15“Cursed is anyone who makes an idol—a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of skilled hands—and sets it up in secret.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
• Revelation 17:5The name written on her forehead was a mystery: babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.

Commentaries on Isaiah 41:24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 24Your work of naught "Your operation is less than naught" - For מאפע meepha, read מאפס meephes ; so the Chaldee and Vulgate. A manifest error of the text; compare Isaiah 40:17. The rabbins acknowledge no such error, but say that the former word signifies the same with the latter, by a change of the two letters ס samech and ע ain . - Sal ben Melec in loc.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 24Behold, ye are of nothing - Margin, Worse than nothing.‘ This refers to idols; and the idea is, that they were utterly vain and powerless; they were as unable to render aid to their worshippers as absolute nothingness would be, and all their confidence in them was vain and foolish. And your work - All that you do, or all that it is pretended that you do. Of nought - Margin, Worse than a viper.‘ The word used here in the common Hebrew text (אפע 'epa‛ )…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-29Verses 21-29 There needs no more to show the folly of sin, than to bring to notice the reasons given in defence of it. There is nothing in idols worthy of regard. They are less than nothing, and worse than nothing. Let the advocates of other doctrines than that of salvation through Christ, bring their arguments. Can they tell of a cure for human depravity? Jehovah has power which cannot be withstood; this he will make appear. But the certain knowledge of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21-29This trial scene develops the Lord’s case against idolatry. Idols are nothing but a human creation, whereas God is the Creator of all things. Idols cannot speak, act, accomplish anything, or save their worshipers.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2424. of nothing--(See on Is 40:17). The Hebrew text is here corrupt; so English Version treats it. abomination--abstract for concrete: not merely abominable, but the essence of whatever is so (De 18:12). chooseth you--as an object of worship.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 41:24

• Condescension of God
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Produce
• Gods
• Isaiah
• Nothing
• Nought
• Omniscience
• Philosophy
• Divination

Commentaries on Isaiah 41

• 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