Passage

Isaiah 40.17

Book: Isaiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

15. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.

17. All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19. The image, a workman hath cast it, and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth for it silver chains. (Isaiah 40:15-19, ASV)

WEB

15. Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing. 16. Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.

17. All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him? 19. A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it. (Isaiah 40:15-19, WEB)

KJV

15. Behold, 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. 16. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

17. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19. The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. (Isaiah 40:15-19, KJV)

YLT

15. Lo, nations as a drop from a bucket, And as small dust of the balance, have been reckoned, Lo, isles as a small thing He taketh up. 16. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.

17. All the nations [are] as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.

And unto whom do ye liken God, And what likeness do ye compare to Him? 19. The graven image poured out hath a artisan, And a refiner with gold spreadeth it over, And chains of silver he is refining. (Isaiah 40:15-19, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

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.

H8414 - tohu, tohu, Strong's H8414

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Doctrine, via Isaiah 40.12-18
Pantheism, via Isaiah 40.12-31

Lexicon:

H8414 - tohu

Notes

Your annotations.

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.