Isaiah 41:29
in Isaiah 41See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nought; their molten images are wind and confusion.
KJV
Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.
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This verse in Isaiah 41
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIt is in a perfectly appropriate way that he both shows the stupid nature of the idols and accuses of impiety those who have fashioned them. For if the idols are inanimate, their makers are full of stupidity and impiety.
This site's exposition
When I look, there is no one
on Isaiah 41:28-29
The LORD's search comes up empty, When I look, there is no one. The final verdict falls without qualification, they are all a delusion, and their images are as empty as the wind. The trial that opened with the workshop of verses 6 and 7 closes on the same idols.
This site's exposition
they are all a delusion
Wesley marks this as the verdict that closes the dispute. Empty renders tohu, the word of Genesis 1:2 for the unformed earth, used at 40:17 of the nations. Theodoret carries the charge from the images to their makers, whose works of nothing expose their own folly.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 28-29) And I saw, and there was none among them that could counsel, and when I asked, no one could answer a word. Behold, all are unjust, and their works are vain; their idols are wind and emptiness. LXX: For there is no one from the nations, and from their idols there was no one who announced. And if I ask them where they are, they will not respond to me: for they are your makers, and they deceive you in vain.
The Medieval Church1 voice
812. And I saw. Here from the disputation set out above, he deduces the determination of the sentence, and it is self-evident: they are vain things, and a ridiculous work (Jer 10:15 and 51:18).
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Behold - This is the conclusion of the dispute, but under these he comprehends all images whatsoever. Wind - Empty and unsatisfying things. Confusion - Confused and useless things, like that rude heap in the beginning of God's creation, of which this very word is used, Gen. i, 2.
1 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. 2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
); they are a lie and a cheat; they are not in themselves what they pretend to be, nor will their worshippers find that in them which they promise themselves. Their works are nothing, of no force, of no worth; their enemies need fear no hurt from them; their worshippers can hope for no good from them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Behold, they are all vanity,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Behold, they are all vanity - They are unable to predict future events; they are unable to defend their friends, or to injure their enemies. This is the conclusion of the trial or debate (notes, Isa 41:1), and that conclusion is, that they were utterly destitute of strength, and that they were entirely unworthy of confidence and regard. Their molten images - (See the note at Isa 40:19). Are wind - Have no solidity or power. The doctrine of the whole chapter is, that confidence should be reposed in God, and in him alone.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֣ן | hen | there! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| כֻּלָּ֔ם | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אָ֥וֶן | ʾaven | [are] deception | H205 → | 77 times |
| אֶ֖פֶס | ʾefes | [are] nothing | H657 → | 44 times |
| מַעֲשֵׂיהֶ֑ם | maaseihem | deeds their | H4639 → | 236 times |
| ר֥וּחַ | ruach | [are] a wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וָתֹ֖הוּ | vatohu | and emptiness | H8414 → | 20 times |
| נִסְכֵּיהֶֽם׃ פ | niskeihem | molten images their | H5262 → | 64 times |
הֵ֣ןthere!
henH2005 →316 times
כֻּלָּ֔םall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
אָ֥וֶן[are] deception
ʾavenH205 →77 times
אֶ֖פֶס[are] nothing
ʾefesH657 →44 times
מַעֲשֵׂיהֶ֑םdeeds their
maaseihemH4639 →236 times
ר֥וּחַ[are] a wind
ruachH7307 →378 times
וָתֹ֖הוּand emptiness
vatohuH8414 →20 times
נִסְכֵּיהֶֽם׃ פmolten images their
niskeihemH5262 →64 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
Habakkuk 2:18What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:8
But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 44:9–10
All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.
- Zechariah 10:2
For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
- 1 Corinthians 12:2
You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
- Jeremiah 2:27–28
say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble…
- Jeremiah 10:8
Through
Isaiah 41:24Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
it leads to
- Psalms 115:8
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4
So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Psalms 115:8
Through
Jeremiah 5:13The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:15
Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and…
- Jeremiah 14:15
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 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; 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 12:41.29 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.