Isaiah 40:15

Isaiah 40:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
• New International Version (NIV)Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
• New Living Translation (NLT)No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.

Context of Isaiah 40:15

13Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? 14With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. 16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. 17All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.

Isaiah 40:15 word by word

הֵ֤ן גּוֹיִם֙ כְּמַ֣ר מִדְּלִ֔י וּכְשַׁ֥חַק מֹאזְנַ֖יִם נֶחְשָׁ֑בוּ הֵ֥ן אִיִּ֖ים כַּדַּ֥ק יִטּֽוֹל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold, the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• as a dropמַרmar · dropH4752
• of a bucketדְּלִיdelîy dŏlîy · bucketH1805
• and are countedחָשַׁבchâshab · to devise: countH2803
• as the small dustשַׁ֫חַקshachaq · cloudH7834
• of the balanceמֹאזֵןmô'zên · balanceH3976
• behold, he taketh upנָטַלnâţal · to liftH5190
• the islesאִי'îy · coastlandH339
• as a very little thingדַּקdaq · thinH1851

Cross-references for Isaiah 40:15

• Isaiah 38:22And Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
• Job 34:14If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,
• Jeremiah 10:10But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
• Isaiah 11:11It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
• Isaiah 41:5The coastlands saw it and feared, The ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came.
• Isaiah 59:18According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.
• Isaiah 66:19I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.
• Genesis 10:5From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
• Daniel 11:18After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him.
• Zephaniah 2:11The Lord will be awesome to them, For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; People shall worship Him, Each one from his place, Indeed all the shores of the nations.

Commentaries on Isaiah 40:15

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Behold, the nations - All the nations of the earth. This is designed to show the greatness of God, in comparison with that which strikes man as great - a mighty nation; and the main object seems to be, to show that God could accomplish his purposes without their aid, and that they could not resist him in the execution of his plans. If they were as nothing in comparison with him, how easily could he execute his purposes! If they were as nothing, how little…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. 15God rules over all nations and their power structures. Compared to God, they are almost nothing. This includes the Babylonian Empire, which was just a tool in God's hand.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. of--rather, (hanging) from a bucket [Maurer]. he taketh up ... as a very little thing--rather, "are as a mere grain of dust which is taken up," namely, by the wind; literally, "one taketh up," impersonally (Ex 16:14) [Maurer]. isles--rather, "lands" in general, answering to "the nations" in the parallel clause; perhaps lands, like Mesopotamia, enclosed by rivers [Jerome] (so Is 42:15). However, English Version, "isles" answers well to "mountains" (Is…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 40:15

• Balances
• Bucket
• God Continued...
• Idolatry
• Readings, Select

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Bucket
• Carry
• Cry
• Feed
• Renew
• Balance
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah (2)
• John, Gospel of

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