New Living Translation
Isaiah 40:17
17The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.
Isaiah 40:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
- New International Version (NIV)Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
- English Standard Version (ESV)All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
Context of Isaiah 40:17
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. 16All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God. The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth. 18To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? 19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:17 word by word
כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֖ם כְּאַ֣יִן נֶגְדּ֑וֹ מֵאֶ֥פֶס וָתֹ֖הוּ נֶחְשְׁבוּ־לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:17
- Job 25:6In comparison, people are maggots; we mortals are mere worms.”
- Psalms 62:9Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air.
- Daniel 4:34“After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal.
- 2 Corinthians 12:11You have made me act like a fool. You ought to be writing commendations for me, for I am not at all inferior to these “super apostles,” even though I am nothing at all.
Commentaries on Isaiah 40:17
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Are as nothing - This expresses literally what had been expressed by the beautiful and striking imagery above. Less than nothing - A strong hyperbolic expression denoting the utter insignificance of the nations as compared with God. Such expressions are common in the Scriptures. And vanity - Hebrew, תהו tôhû - Emptiness;‘ the word which in Genesis 1:2 is rendered without form.‘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. 17The nations, including their leaders (Isaiah 40:23), pagan structures (41:24, 29; 44:9–11), and all enemies of God's people (41:11–12), are worth nothing apart from God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. (Psa 62:9; Da 4:35). less than nothing--Maurer translates, as in Is 41:24, "of nothing" (partitively; or expressive of the nature of a thing), a mere nothing. vanity--emptiness.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 40:17
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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