Isaiah 44:25

Isaiah 44:25 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
• New International Version (NIV)who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense,
• English Standard Version (ESV)who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness;

Context of Isaiah 44:25

23Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing. Shout for joy, O depths of the earth! Break into song, O mountains and forests and every tree! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel. 24This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer and Creator: “I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth? I expose the false prophets as liars and make fools of fortune-tellers. I cause the wise to give bad advice, thus proving them to be fools. 26But I carry out the predictions of my prophets! By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’ and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt; I will restore all your ruins!’ 27When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’ they will be dry.

Isaiah 44:25 word by word

מֵפֵר֙ אֹת֣וֹת בַּדִּ֔ים וְקֹסְמִ֖ים יְהוֹלֵ֑ל מֵשִׁ֧יב חֲכָמִ֛ים אָח֖וֹר וְדַעְתָּ֥ם יְשַׂכֵּֽל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• That frustratethפָּרַרpârar · to breakH6565
• the tokensאוֹת'ôth · sign: indicatorH226
• of the liarsבַּדbad · blusterH907
• and maketh divinersקָסַםqâsam · to divineH7080
• madהָלַלhâlal · to be foolishH1984
• that turnethשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
• wiseחָכָםchâkâm · wiseH2450
• backwardאָחוֹר'âchôr 'âchôr · backH268
• and maketh their knowledgeדַּ֫עַתda‛ath · knowledgeH1847
• foolishסָכַלsâkal · be foolishH5528

Cross-references for Isaiah 44:25

• Isaiah 47:12“Now use your magical charms! Use the spells you have worked at all these years! Maybe they will do you some good. Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.
• 1 Kings 22:11One of them, Zedekiah son of Kenaanah, made some iron horns and proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans to death!”
• 2 Chronicles 18:11All the other prophets agreed. “Yes,” they said, “go up to Ramoth-gilead and be victorious, for the Lord will give the king victory!”
• Jeremiah 27:9“‘Do not listen to your false prophets, fortune-tellers, interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers who say, “The king of Babylon will not conquer you.”
• Jeremiah 28:9So a prophet who predicts peace must show he is right. Only when his predictions come true can we know that he is really from the Lord.”
• Jeremiah 50:36The sword will strike her wise counselors, and they will become fools. The sword will strike her mightiest warriors, and panic will seize them.
• Exodus 9:11Even the magicians were unable to stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and all the Egyptians.
• Exodus 2:19“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”
• Exodus 4:7“Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
• Exodus 5:6That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen:
• Isaiah 19:11What fools are the officials of Zoan! Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is stupid and wrong. Will they still boast to Pharaoh of their wisdom? Will they dare brag about all their wise ancestors?
• Isaiah 29:14Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
• 2 Samuel 15:31When someone told David that his adviser Ahithophel was now backing Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, let Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!”
• 2 Samuel 16:23Absalom followed Ahithophel’s advice, just as David had done. For every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God.
• 2 Samuel 17:23When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey, went to his hometown, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself. He died there and was buried in the family tomb.
• Job 5:12He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed.

Commentaries on Isaiah 44:25

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25That frustrateth - Hebrew, Breaking:‘ that is, destroying, rendering vain. The idea is, that that which necromancers and diviners relied on as certain demonstration that what they predicted would be fulfilled, God makes vain and inefficacious. The event which they predicted did not follow, and all their alleged proofs that they were endowed with divine or miraculous power he rendered vain. The tokens - Hebrew, אתות 'othôth - Signs.‘ This word is usually…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-28Verses 21-28 Return unto me. It is the great concern of those who have backslidden from God, like the Jews of old, to hasten their return to him. The work of redemption wrought for us by Christ, encourages to hope for all blessings from him. Our transgressions and our sins are as a thick cloud between heaven and earth: sins separate between us and God; they threaten a storm of wrath. When God pardons sin, he blots out, he dispels this cloud, this thick…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25False prophets and diviners used forbidden methods to predict the future. Eventually, God would reveal them as liars who believed something that is not true (see Isaiah 3:2; 9:15; 47:13; Deuteronomy 18:10–11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 24-2824-28. Confirmation of His promises to the Church and Israel, by various instances of His omnipotence; among these the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus. alone--literally, "Who was with Me?" namely, when I did it; answering to "by Myself," in the parallel clause (compare similar phrases, Ho 8:4; Joh 5:30) [Maurer].Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 44:25

• Sorcery

In the dictionaries

• Wise men
• Consider
• Fit
• Pleasure
• Surname
• Astrology
• Frustrate
• Isaiah
• Mark, the Gospel According to
• Philosophy

Commentaries on Isaiah 44

• 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