Revised Webster's Bible
Isaiah 40:17
17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
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
15Behold, 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. 16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. 18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare him to? 19The workman casteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:17 word by word
כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֖ם כְּאַ֣יִן נֶגְדּ֑וֹ מֵאֶ֥פֶס וָתֹ֖הוּ נֶחְשְׁבוּ־לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:17
- Job 25:6How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, who is a worm?
- Psalms 62:9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
- Daniel 4:34And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
- 2 Corinthians 12:11I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended by you: for in nothing am I behind the very greatest apostles, though I am nothing.
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
Revised Webster's Bible — 1833 — Public Domain
Commentaries