All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
Parallel Translations
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All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
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All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
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All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are accounted by Him as things of nought, and vanity.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Isaiah 40:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 62:9 Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
- Daniel 4:34-35 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 honored him who lives forever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can stop his hand, or ask him, “What are you doing?”
- Isaiah 29:7 The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He speaketh all this to the intent that they…
He speaketh all this to the intent that they should neither fear man nor put their trust in any, save only in God.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 40:17 All nations before him [are] as nothing;…
Isa 40:17 All nations before him [are] as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Ver. 17. All nations before him are as nothing.] Agnosce ergo virium tuarum ουδενειαν. See therefore thine own nothingness, and learn to vilify, yea, to nullify thyself before God, as Agur, {Pro 30:2} and as David, who was a worm and no man {Psa 22:6} Reiectamentum hominis et nullificamen populi, {a}
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{a} Tertul.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Before him; either in his eyes, or being set…
Before him; either in his eyes, or being set against him, as this Hebrew word properly and most usually signifies.
Counted to him, either in his judgment, or in comparison of him.
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Less than nothing; less than a thing of nought, or of no account or worth; or, as others render it, for nothing.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain All nations before him are as nothing,.... As if…
All nations before him are as nothing,.... As if they were nonentities, and were not real beings in comparison of him, who is the Being of beings, the author of all beings which exist in all nations; who are all in his sight, and are not only as grasshoppers, as is after mentioned, but even as nothing:
and they are counted to him as less than nothing, and vanity; if there is or could be such a thing less than nothing, that they are; and so they are accounted of by him; they are like the chaos out of which the earth was formed, when it was "tohu" and "bohu", the first of which words is used here; this serves to humble the pride of men, and to lessen the glory of the nations, and the inhabitants of them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Are as nothing - This expresses literally what had…
Are 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.
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And vanity - Hebrew, תהו tôhû - ‘Emptiness;’ the word which in Gen 1:2 is rendered ‘without form.’
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (Psa 62:9; Dan 4:35).
(Psa 62:9; Dan 4:35).
less than nothing--MAURER translates, as in Isa 41:24, "of nothing" (partitively; or expressive of the nature of a thing), a mere nothing.
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vanity--emptiness.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. All nations… are as nothing — The thought…
17. All nations… are as nothing — The thought of Isa_40:15 is resumed. In weighing comparisons of such a Being all nations of the earth “are as nothing.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. less than nothing] Better: of nought; “belonging to…
17. less than nothing] Better: of nought; “belonging to the category of nothingness” (Cheyne).
vanity] The Hebr. is tôhû, a word which means primarily “a waste,” and is applied in Gen_1:2 to the primeval chaos (A.V. “without form”). See on ch. Isa_29:21, Isa_34:11. Here and in many other cases it is a synonym for nonentity.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) Less than nothing.—Literally, as things of nought.
(17) Less than nothing.—Literally, as things of nought.
Vanity.—Once more the tohu, or chaos, of Gen_1:2—one of Isaiah’s favourite phrases (Isa_24:10; Isa_29:21; Isa_34:11).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain All nations; rather, all the nations; i.e. all the…
All nations; rather, all the nations; i.e. all the nations of the earth put together. In ver. 15 single "nations" had been declared to be of no account; now the same is said of all the nations of the earth collectively. They are accounted of God as ephes, nothingness, and tohu, chaos or confusion.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 40:17 The nations, including their leaders (40:23), pagan structures…
40:17 The nations, including their leaders (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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.