Yǐsaìyàshū 41:24

24 Kàn nǎ , nǐmen shǔ hū xū wú , nǐmen de zuòwéi yĕ shǔ hū xū wú . nà xuǎnzé nǐmen de shì kĕ zēngwù de .

Yǐsaìyàshū 41:24 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 41:24

Behold, ye are of nothing
Not as to the matter of them, for they were made of gold, silver, brass but as to the divinity of them: there was none in them, they were of no worth and value; they could do nothing, either good or evil, either help their friends, or hurt their enemies; yea, they were less than nothing; for the words may be rendered by way of comparison, "behold, ye are less than nothing"; {a}. (See Gill on Isaiah 40:17); and your work of nought;
the workmanship bestowed on them, in casting or carving them, was all to no purpose, and answered no end; or the work they did, or pretended to do, their feigned oracles, and false predictions: or, "worse than nothing": some render it, "worse than a viper" ^F2; a word like this is used for one, ( Isaiah 49:5 ) and so denotes the poisonous and pernicious effects of idolatry: an abomination is he that chooseth you;
as the object of his worship; he is not only abominable, but an abomination itself to God, and to all men of sense and religion; for the choice he makes of an idol to be his god shows him to be a man void of common sense and reason, and destitute of all true religion and godliness, and must be a stupid sottish creature. The Targum is,

``an abomination is that which ye have chosen for yourselves, or in which ye delight;''

meaning their idols. This is the final issue of the controversy, and the judgment passed both upon the idols and their worshippers.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Nyam Mta) "vos minus quam nihil [estis]", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F2 (epam) "pejus [opere] viperae", Junius & Tremellius; "pejus [est opere] basilisci", Piscator.

Yǐsaìyàshū 41:24 In-Context

22 Kĕyǐ shēng míng , zhǐshì wǒmen jiānglái bì yù de shì , shuō míng xiānqián de shì shénme shì , hǎo jiào wǒmen sī suǒ , dé zhī shì de jiéjú , huòzhĕ bǎ jiānglái de shì zhǐshì wǒmen .

23 Yào shuō míng hòulái de shì , hǎo jiào wǒmen zhīdào nǐmen shì shén , nǐmen huò jiàng fú , huò jiàng huò , shǐ wǒmen jīngqí , yītóng guānkàn .

24 Kàn nǎ , nǐmen shǔ hū xū wú , nǐmen de zuòwéi yĕ shǔ hū xū wú . nà xuǎnzé nǐmen de shì kĕ zēngwù de .

25 Wǒ cóng bĕi fāng xīngqǐ yī rén , tā shì qiúgào wǒ míng de , cóng rì chū zhī dì ér lái . tā bì líndào zhǎngquán de , hǎoxiàng líndào huīní , fǎngfú yáo jiàng chuaì ní yíyàng .

26 Shuí cóng qǐchū zhǐ míng zhè shì , shǐ wǒmen zhīdào ne . shuí cóng xiānqián shuō míng , shǐ wǒmen shuō , tā búcuò ne . shuí yĕ méiyǒu zhǐ míng , shuí yĕ méiyǒu shuō míng . shuí yĕ méiyǒu tīngjian nǐmen de huà .