Isaiah 40:17

17 Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.

Isaiah 40:17 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
English Standard Version (ESV)
17 All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
New Living Translation (NLT)
17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.
The Message Bible (MSG)
17 All the nations add up to simply nothing before him - less than nothing is more like it. A minus.
American Standard Version (ASV)
17 All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
17 All the nations amount to nothing in his presence. He considers them less than nothing and worthless.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are considered by Him as nothingness and emptiness.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
17 To him, all of the nations don't amount to anything. He considers them to be worthless. In fact, they are less than nothing in his sight.

Isaiah 40:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 40:17

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.

Isaiah 40:17 In-Context

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
18 With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?
19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Isaiah 30:28
  • 2. S Job 12:19; Isaiah 29:7
  • 3. S Isaiah 37:19; Daniel 4:35
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