New Living Translation
Isaiah 40:13
13Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
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
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. 12Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? 14Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? 15No, 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.
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 21:22“But who can teach a lesson to God, since he judges even the most powerful?
- Job 36:22“Look, God is all-powerful. Who is a teacher like him?
- Luke 10:22“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
- John 1:13They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
- Romans 11:34For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?
- 1 Corinthians 2:16For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
- Ephesians 1:11Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
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
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