Isaiah 41:12
in Isaiah 41You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
KJV
Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
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This verse in Isaiah 41
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd the impossibility of restoration: you shall seek them: I have seen the wicked highly exalted. And I passed by, and lo, he was not (Ps 36[37]:35–36).
This site's exposition
will be ashamed and disgraced
on Isaiah 41:11-13
The promise turns to Israel's adversaries, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced. Verse 12 presses further, You will seek them but will not find them. The section closes on the hand of verse 10, the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand.
This site's exposition
You will seek them
Aquinas reads the fruitless search as proof that the enemy cannot return, and joins it to Psalm 37:35-36, where the wicked is sought and gone. Matthew Henry draws a duty from the promise. The people of God are to wait His time and leave those who wage war to Him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 11-12) All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. You will seek them, and you will not find them: your rebel men will be as if they were not: and like the destruction of warring men against you. LXX: Behold, they shall be confounded and ashamed, all your adversaries. They shall be as if they were not, and all your enemies shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them, those who rage against you.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But let not God's people be incensed at them, nor strive with them, nor render evil for evil; but wait God's time, and believe, 1. That they shall be convinced of the folly, at least, if not of the sin of striving with God's people; and, finding it to no purpose, they shall be ashamed and confounded, which might bring them to repentance, but will rather fill them with rage.
): They shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought, or as that which is gone and has failed. Those that were formidable shall become despicable; those that fancied they could do any thing shall be able to bring nothing to pass; those that made a figure in the world, and a mighty noise, shall become mere ciphers and be buried in silence.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
They not existing, or being fled into holes and corners, to rocks and mountains, to hide themselves from the wrath of the Lamb, Rev 6:15, even them that contended with thee; or, "the men of thy contention" (p); who contended with them, not by words and arguments, but by severe persecutions, striving thereby to hinder the progress of the Gospel, and to root Christianity out of the world: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought: or, "the men of thy war" (q); that proclaimed and carried on war against the Christians, in order to destroy them utterly; yet they, and all their efforts, came to nothing, the Gospel prevailed, and Paganism was utterly abolished; which came to pass in Constantine's time, at the opening of the sixth seal, Rev 6:12 which is a proper comment on this text. (p) אנשי מצתיך "viros jurgii tui", Montanus. (q) אנשי מלחמתך "viri belli tui", Vatablus; "pugnae tuae", Montanus.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou shalt seek them - This denotes that it would be impossible to find them, for they should cease to exist. The whole verse, with the verse following, is emphatic, repeating in varied terms what was said before, and meaning that their foes should be entirely destroyed.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תְּבַקְשֵׁם֙ | tevakshem | you will seek them | H1245 → | 225 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִמְצָאֵ֔ם | timtzaem | you will find them | H4672 → | 455 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֖י | ʾanshei | [the] people of | H582 → | 566 times |
| מַצֻּתֶ֑ךָ | matzutekha | strife your | H4695 → | |
| יִהְי֥וּ | yihyu | they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְאַ֛יִן | kheayin | as nothing | H369 → | 789 times |
| וּכְאֶ֖פֶס | ukheefes | and as nothing | H657 → | 44 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֥י | ʾanshei | [the] people of | H582 → | 566 times |
| מִלְחַמְתֶּֽךָ׃ | milchamtekha | warfare your | H4421 → | 320 times |
תְּבַקְשֵׁם֙you will seek them
tevakshemH1245 →225 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִמְצָאֵ֔םyou will find them
timtzaemH4672 →455 times
אַנְשֵׁ֖י[the] people of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
מַצֻּתֶ֑ךָstrife your
matzutekhaH4695 →
יִהְי֥וּthey will be
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
כְאַ֛יִןas nothing
kheayinH369 →789 times
וּכְאֶ֖פֶסand as nothing
ukheefesH657 →44 times
אַנְשֵׁ֥י[the] people of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
מִלְחַמְתֶּֽךָ׃warfare your
milchamtekhaH4421 →320 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 17:14In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 19:35
And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the…
- Proverbs 22:23
for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.
- 2 Kings 19:3
to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
- Ezekiel 39:10
They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered…
- Jeremiah 2:3
Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her found themselves guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD.
- 2 Kings 19:35
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
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); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.