New Living Translation
Isaiah 40:27
27O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
Isaiah 40:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
- New International Version (NIV)Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God"?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
Context of Isaiah 40:27
25“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. 26Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? 28Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:27 word by word
לָ֤מָּה תֹאמַר֙ יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב וּתְדַבֵּ֖ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל נִסְתְּרָ֤ה דַרְכִּי֙ מֵֽיְהוָ֔ה וּמֵאֱלֹהַ֖י מִשְׁפָּטִ֥י יַעֲבֽוֹר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Why sayestאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- thou, O Jacobיַעֲקֹבya‛ăqôb · JacobH3290
- and speakestדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- O Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- My wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: conductH1870
- is hidסָתַרsâthar · to hideH5641
- from the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- and my judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941
- is passed overעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
- from my Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:27
- Isaiah 49:14Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.”
- Isaiah 54:6For the Lord has called you back from your grief— as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,” says your God.
- Isaiah 60:15“Though you were once despised and hated, with no one traveling through you, I will make you beautiful forever, a joy to all generations.
- 1 Samuel 12:22The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.
- Job 3:23Why is life given to those with no future, those God has surrounded with difficulties?
- Psalms 31:22In panic I cried out, “I am cut off from the Lord!” But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.
- Psalms 77:7Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me?
- Jeremiah 33:24“Have you noticed what people are saying?—‘The Lord chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation.
- Ezekiel 37:11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’
- Romans 11:1I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
- Isaiah 49:4I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.”
- Job 27:2“I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul—
- Job 34:5For Job also said, ‘I am innocent, but God has taken away my rights.
- Malachi 2:17You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
- Luke 18:7Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
Commentaries on Isaiah 40:27
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 27Why sayest thou? - This verse is designed to reprove the people for their want of confidence in God. The idea is, If God is so great; if be arranges the hosts of heaven with such unerring skill, causing all the stars to observe their proper place and their exact times, the interests of his people are safe in his hands.‘ Piety may always find security in the assurance that He who preserves the unbroken order of the heavens will not fail to keep and save…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 27-31Verses 27-31 The people of God are reproved for their unbelief and distrust of God. Let them remember they took the names Jacob and Israel, from one who found God faithful to him in all his straits. And they bore these names as a people in covenant with Him. Many foolish frets, and foolish fears, would vanish before inquiry into the causes. It is bad to have evil thoughts rise in our minds, but worse to turn them into evil words. What they had known, and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27My way is hidden … ignored by my God: The coming exile, a time when God's powerful presence and rescue would not be visible, would prompt questions (see also Isaiah 49:14; 54:7; Lamentations 5:20–22).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2727. Since these things are so, thou hast no reason to think that thine interest ("way," that is, condition, Psa 37:5; Jr 12:1) is disregarded by God. judgment is passed over from--rather, "My cause is neglected by my God; He passes by my case in my bondage and distress without noticing it." my God--who especially might be expected to care for me.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 40:27
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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