Passage

Isaiah 40.12

Book: Isaiah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

10. Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those that have their young.

12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14. With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:10-14, ASV)

WEB

10. Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Who has directed Yahweh’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor? 14. Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:10-14, WEB)

KJV

10. Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. ^{with strong: or, against the strong} ^{his work: or, recompence for his work} 11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. ^{that: or, that give suck}

12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? ^{a measure: Heb. a tierce}

Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? ^{his: Heb. man of his counsel} 14. With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? ^{instructed: Heb. made him understand} ^{understanding: Heb. understandings?} (Isaiah 40:10-14, KJV)

YLT

10. Lo, the Lord Jehovah with strength cometh, And His arm is ruling for Him, Lo, His hire [is] with Him, and His wage before Him. 11. As a shepherd His flock He feedeth, With His arm He gathereth lambs, And in His bosom He carrieth [them]: Suckling ones He leadeth.

12. Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters? And the heavens by a span hath meted out, And comprehended in a measure the dust of the earth, And hath weighed in scales the mountains, And the hills in a balance?

Who hath meted out the Spirit of Jehovah, And, [being] His counsellor, doth teach Him! 14. With whom consulted He, That he causeth Him to understand? And teacheth Him in the path of judgment, And teacheth Him knowledge? And the way of understanding causeth Him to know? (Isaiah 40:10-14, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the prophet, speaking for God; at verse 25 God speaks in the first person as "the Holy One"
Audience: God's people, addressed as "Jacob" and "Israel" who complain that "My way is hid from Jehovah" (40:27)
Location: Judah, with the Babylonian exile in view in the chapters that follow
Time period: Isaiah's ministry in the eighth century BC; many scholars date chapters 40-55 to the exile in the sixth century, while others hold to Isaiah's authorship

Theological reading

"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" The verse opens a series of rhetorical questions that run through the chapter. The images reverse the scale of things: the oceans fit in God's palm, the heavens are measured by the width of his hand, and the mountains are weighed like goods in a market.

The expected answer is that no one but God could do this. The questions set up the argument of 40:12-31: the God who measures creation is beyond comparison with idols, nations or rulers, and he is therefore able to keep his promises to an exiled and discouraged people (40:27-31).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.

Quoted in

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Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.