Isaiah 40:23
in Isaiah 40He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
KJV
That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
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This verse in Isaiah 40
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Vers. 21 seqq.) Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? He sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He spreads out the heavens like nothing, and expands them as a tent to dwell in. He makes secret things known as if they were not. He has made the rulers of the earth as nothing. They are not planted, nor are they sown, nor do their roots take hold in the earth.
This site's exposition
He brings the princes to nothing
on Isaiah 40:23-24
The same hand that measures creation reduces rulers, for He brings the princes to nothing. No sooner are they planted, than He blows on them and they wither. Then a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble, rulers removed at a breath from the God who made them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
It is he, [Isaiah] says, who has caused the earth to appear; it is he who holds it in his hand and who directs it. As for human beings, they are no different from grasshoppers if one compares them with divine power. Then [Isaiah] teaches …
It is thus he has brought down Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar and thousands of others. "And has made the earth as nothing." For the power of the Creator does not even have the object of his creation as a measure, but only his will: "Our God has …
"He that stretches out the heavens as a vaulted ceiling." These same thoughts, let us also recommend to ourselves concerning the earth, not to be curious about what its substance is; or to wear ourselves out by reasoning, seeking its very foundation; or to search for some nature destitute of qualities, existing without quality of itself; but to realize well that all that is seen around it is related to the reason of its existence, forming an essential part of its substance.
When he spoke of the heavens, Isaiah said, "It is he who set up the heaven as a vaulted chamber and stretched it out as a tent over the earth." And he said of the earth, "It is he that comprehends the circle of the earth and made the earth as if it were nothing," even though the earth is so great and vast.… Despite the fact that the earth is so great and so vast, God made it with such ease that the prophet could find no fitting example. So he said that God made the earth "as if it were nothing."
The Medieval Church1 voice
He convicts them as to the subjugation of the great, setting out the destruction of those who are great, either according to knowledge: he that brings the searchers of secrets, namely the philosophers; or according to power, the judges, that is, the princes: they have …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That bringeth princes to nothing,.... The great men of the earth, kings, rulers, and nobles, these he brings to the dust; and all their counsels, schemes, and purposes, come to nothing; and their monarchies and kingdoms too in time. Where are now the Babylonish, Persian, and Grecian monarchies, and those great princes that formerly reigned in them? he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity; their decrees and decisions to stand for nothing, as "tohu" and "bohu", the first of which words is used here; so that they are no more regarded and attended to.
He makes them utterly unable to stand before his judgments, which shall either, [1.] Prevent their settlement in their authority: They shall not be planted; they shall not be sown; and those are the two ways of propagating plants, either by seed or slips.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Da 2:21). judges--that is, rulers; for these exercised judicial authority (Ps 2:10). The Hebrew, shophtee, answers to the Carthaginian chief magistrates, suffetes.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That bringeth the princes to nothing - That is, all princes and kings. No matter how great their power, their wealth, and their dignity, they are, by his hand, reduced to nothing before him. The design of this passage is to contrast the majesty of God with that of princes and nobles, and to show how far he excels them all. The general truth is therefore stated, that all monarchs are by him removed from their thrones, and consigned to nothing.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַנּוֹתֵ֥ן | hanoten | the [one who] appoints | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| רוֹזְנִ֖ים | roznim | rulers | H7336 → | |
| לְאָ֑יִן | leayin | to nothing | H369 → | 789 times |
| שֹׁ֥פְטֵי | shofetei | judges of | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֶ֖רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כַּתֹּ֥הוּ | katohu | like <the> nothingness | H8414 → | 20 times |
| עָשָֽׂה׃ | ʾasah | he makes | H6213 → | 2628 times |
הַנּוֹתֵ֥ןthe [one who] appoints
hanotenH5414 →2011 times
רוֹזְנִ֖יםrulers
roznimH7336 →
לְאָ֑יִןto nothing
leayinH369 →789 times
שֹׁ֥פְטֵיjudges of
shofeteiH8199 →202 times
אֶ֖רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
כַּתֹּ֥הוּlike <the> nothingness
katohuH8414 →20 times
עָשָֽׂה׃he makes
ʾasahH6213 →2628 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
Psalms 107:40He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
it leads to
- Job 12:24
He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
- Job 12:21
He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
- Daniel 4:33
At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair…
- Job 12:24
Through
Psalms 76:12He breaks the spirits of princes; He is feared by the kings of the earth.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:6
“I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.
- Psalms 68:12
“Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.
- Isaiah 13:6–8
Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Psalms 2:5
Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury:
- Zephaniah 3:6
Through
Job 12:21He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
it leads to
- Psalms 107:40
He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
- Psalms 107:40
Where this verse is studied
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About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE HEXAMERON 1:8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Chrysostom, AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS, HOMILY 2:24-25; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:40.22; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:40.23 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.