Ésaïe 40:24

24 Ils ne sont pas même plantés, pas même semés, Leur tronc n'a pas même de racine en terre: Il souffle sur eux, et ils se dessèchent, Et un tourbillon les emporte comme le chaume.

Ésaïe 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.

Ésaïe 40:24 In-Context

22 C'est lui qui est assis au-dessus du cercle de la terre, Et ceux qui l'habitent sont comme des sauterelles; Il étend les cieux comme une étoffe légère, Il les déploie comme une tente, pour en faire sa demeure.

23 C'est lui qui réduit les princes au néant, Et qui fait des juges de la terre une vanité;

24 Ils ne sont pas même plantés, pas même semés, Leur tronc n'a pas même de racine en terre: Il souffle sur eux, et ils se dessèchent, Et un tourbillon les emporte comme le chaume.

25 A qui me comparerez-vous, pour que je lui ressemble? Dit le Saint.

26 Levez vos yeux en haut, et regardez! Qui a créé ces choses? Qui fait marcher en ordre leur armée? Il les appelle toutes par leur nom; Par son grand pouvoir et par sa force puissante, Il n'en est pas une qui fasse défaut.