Isaiah 40:24

24 Yea, they shall not be planted ; yea, they shall not be sown : yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither , and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

Isaiah 40:24 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 40:24

Yea, they shall not be planted
As trees are, like the cedars in Lebanon, though they may seem to be such; but be like the grass of the field, and herbs of the earth: or, "even they shall be", as if they were "not planted ^F3", they shall not grow and flourish; or they shall be plucked up, and be no more; this is said of the princes and judges of the earth; nay, they shall not be sown;
as seed is, which springing up, brings forth fruit, but so it shall not be with them; or they shall be as if they had not been sown, no fruit being brought forth by them: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth;
so as to continue and abide, but they shall soon vanish and disappear, as the most powerful princes and wisest judges do. The Targum is,

``although they multiply, although they increase, although their children become great in the earth:''

"and" or "yea", he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither;
as grass withers, when a severe wind blows upon it: and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble;
which is not able to stand before the force of it; and as unable are the greatest potentates on earth to stand before the tempest of divine wrath and vengeance; if God blows but upon them in anger, all their glory and grandeur, pomp and power, wither away like the flower of the field; and especially if he comes forth in all the fury of his wrath in a tempestuous way against them, they are no more able to stand before him that stubble before a violent storm: see ( Revelation 6:15-17 ) . The Targum is,

``yet, even he will send his fury upon them; and his word shall take them away, as a whirlwind stubble.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (wejn lb Pa) "perinde ut non plantati", Calvin; and so the following clauses.

Isaiah 40:24 In-Context

22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in :

23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24 Yea, they shall not be planted ; yea, they shall not be sown : yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither , and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal ? saith the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth .