Isaiah 40:27
in Isaiah 40Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God?
KJV
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
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This verse in Isaiah 40
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Why sayest thou? - This verse is designed to reprove the people for their want of confidence in God. The idea is, ‘If God is so great; if be arranges the hosts of heaven with such unerring skill, causing all the stars to observe their proper place and their exact times, the interests of his people are safe in his hands.’ Piety may always find security in the assurance that He who preserves the unbroken order of the heavens will not fail to keep and save his people.
This site's exposition
My way is hidden from the LORD
on Isaiah 40:27-28
Jacob's complaint is quoted directly, My way is hidden from the LORD, the exile's sense that God has stopped watching. The answer repeats the questions of verse 21. The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who will not grow tired or weary.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
[Isaiah] says, look at the sun, the moon, the movement of the stars, the cycle of the year, the changing of the seasons, the regular succession of night and day. For this is what [Isaiah] has added: "He who brings forth by number the order …
Do not think that I ignore the designs of your souls, God says through Isaiah, and do not believe that you escape my view when you hold perverse reasonings. This passage lets [us] see clearly that he has also thrown the accusation of polytheism against …
So with such great power and majesty of the Creator, how can you compare God to the likeness of a creature? And do you not rather understand the Creator from the magnitude of the creatures? If you do not believe in words, believe at least in your own eyes; and consider the power of the Lord from the service of the heavens and all the elements. He summons their army, that is, the heavens, in number; and he calls them all by name, and it is understood, the stars.
(Verse 27 and following) Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over by my God? Do you not know, or have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint, neither is He weary, and there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.
The Medieval Church1 voice
He excludes their error. And first, he sets out the error: why say you: my way is hid from the Lord, he does not see what evils I suffer, otherwise, he would defend me; judgment, that is, the power to judge, which he formerly had: …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
Is hid - He takes no notice of my prayers and tears, and sufferings, but suffers mine enemies to abuse me at their pleasure. This complaint is uttered in the name of the people, being prophetically supposed to be in captivity. God has neglected to plead my cause, and to give judgment for me against mine enemies.
The meaning is, God shall by his spirit so dispose mens hearts, and by his providence so order the affairs of the world, as to make way for the accomplishment of his promise. This was eminently fulfilled, when Christ, who was, and is God, blessed forever, came into the world in a visible manner.
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel,....
There are such difficulties in our case that even divine wisdom and power will be nonplussed." A man whose way is hidden is one whom God has hedged in, Job iii. (2.) That God could not help them: " My judgment is passed over from my God; my case is past relief, so far past it that God himself cannot redress the grievances of it.
It was especially a direction to the prophets that should live in the time of captivity, when Jerusalem was in ruins; they must encourage the captives to hope for enlargement in due time. Gospel ministers, being employed by the blessed Spirit as comforters, and as helpers of the joy of Christians, are here put in mind of their business.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Since these things are so, thou hast no reason to think that thine interest ("way," that is, condition, Ps 37:5; Jer 12:1) is disregarded by God. judgment is passed over from--rather, "My cause is neglected by my God;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָ֤מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תֹאמַר֙ | tomar | do you say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב | yaako | O Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וּתְדַבֵּ֖ר | utedaber | so you may declare? | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | O Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נִסְתְּרָ֤ה | nisterah | it is hidden | H5641 → | 80 times |
| דַרְכִּי֙ | darki | way my | H1870 → | 707 times |
| מֵֽיְהוָ֔ה | meyahweh | from Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּמֵאֱלֹהַ֖י | umeelohai | and from God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| מִשְׁפָּטִ֥י | mishpati | justice my | H4941 → | 422 times |
| יַעֲבֽוֹר׃ | yaavor | it passes away | H5674 → | 556 times |
לָ֤מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
תֹאמַר֙do you say
tomarH559 →5305 times
יַֽעֲקֹ֔בO Jacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
וּתְדַבֵּ֖רso you may declare?
utedaberH1696 →1141 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לO Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
נִסְתְּרָ֤הit is hidden
nisterahH5641 →80 times
דַרְכִּי֙way my
darkiH1870 →707 times
מֵֽיְהוָ֔הfrom Yahweh
meyahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּמֵאֱלֹהַ֖יand from God my
umeelohaiH430 →2601 times
מִשְׁפָּטִ֥יjustice my
mishpatiH4941 →422 times
יַעֲבֽוֹר׃it passes away
yaavorH5674 →556 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 49:4But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength in futility and vanity; yet My vindication is with the LORD, and My reward is with My God.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 35:4
Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
- Galatians 4:11
I fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain.
- Matthew 17:17
“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.”
- Ezekiel 3:19
But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.
- Isaiah 65:23
They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.
- Isaiah 35:4
Through
Job 27:2“As surely as God lives, who has deprived me of justice—the Almighty, who has embittered my soul—
it leads to
- Job 34:5
For Job has declared, ‘I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice.
- 2 Kings 4:27
When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul…
- Job 34:5
Through
Isaiah 49:14But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”
it leads to
- Romans 11:1–5
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
- Romans 11:1–5
Where this verse is studied
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About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:40.26; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:40.27 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.