Isaiah 44:25 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 44:25

who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

that frustrateth the signs of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

KJV

That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

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Commentary

2 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah (420)

(Verse 25) Making the signs of the diviners void, and driving the soothsayers mad; turning the wise men backward, and making their knowledge foolish. LXX: Who else has dispersed the signs of the pythons, and the divinations from the heart? Who turns wise men backward, and makes their counsel foolish.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Two great truths are abundantly made out in these verses:-- I. That the people of God are a happy people, especially upon account of the covenant that is between them and God. The people of Israel were so as a figure of the gospel Israel.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Finding they cannot go on with their projects, they are forced to quit them; and so he makes the judges fools, and makes their knowledge foolish. Those that are made acquainted with Christ see all the knowledge they had before to be foolishness in comparison with the knowledge of him.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

That frustrateth - Hebrew, ‘Breaking:’ that is, destroying, rendering vain. The idea is, that that which necromancers and diviners relied on as certain demonstration that what they predicted would be fulfilled, God makes vain and inefficacious. The event which they predicted did not follow, and all their alleged proofs that they were endowed with divine or miraculous power he rendered vain. The tokens - Hebrew, אתות 'othôth - ‘Signs.’ This word is usually applied to miracles, or to signs of the divine interposition and presence.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

10 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
מֵפֵר֙	me.Fer	[who] frustrates	H6565 →
אֹת֣וֹת	'o.Tot	[the] signs of	H226 →
בַּדִּ֔ים	ba.Dim	empty talkers	H907 →
וְקֹסְמִ֖ים	ve.ko.se.Mim	and diviners	H7080 →
יְהוֹלֵ֑ל	ye.ho.Lel	he makes look foolish	H1984 →
מֵשִׁ֧יב	me.Shiv	[who] turns back	H7725 →
חֲכָמִ֛ים	cha.kha.Mim	wise [people]	H2450 →
אָח֖וֹר	'a.Chor	backwards	H268 →
וְדַעְתָּ֥ם	ve.da'.Tam	and knowledge their	H1847 →
יְשַׂכֵּֽל׃	ye.sa.Kel	he makes foolish	H5528 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Psalms 33:10
The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
leads to
- Psalms 21:11
  Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.
- Job 5:12–13
  He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Proverbs 21:30
  There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 15:31
  Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Isaiah 8:9–10
  Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Through
2 Samuel 15:31
Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
leads to
- 2 Samuel 17:14
  Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in…
- 2 Samuel 17:23
  When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he…
- Psalms 41:9
  Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

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About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 44 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 44 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah