Isaiah 55:9
in Isaiah 55“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
KJV
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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This verse in Isaiah 55
Commentary
13 notes on this verse"If you would," he says, "Ascend to heaven, banish cares of earth. For far as earth is distant from the sky And heaven from the world below, so far Are your vain thoughts from my eternal thoughts, Ill from good, sin from virtue, dark from …
This site's exposition
not your thoughts
on Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways” follows directly on the promise of free pardon in verse 7. Verse 9 gives the measure: “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways”.
This site's exposition
as the heavens are higher than the earth
Clarke holds that the Hebrew has lost its word for as, which all the ancient versions supply. Barnes and Clarke set the verse beside Psalm 103:11, where the heavens above the earth measure the loving devotion of the LORD. Gill reads those higher ways as heavenly, eternal and excellent.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Fourth, he excludes the obstacle to mercy: for my thoughts are not your thoughts, as if to say: you are wicked, I am loving; you think of vengeance, I think of mercy: is it my ways that are not right, and are not rather your …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For as the heavens, are higher than the earth,.... Than which there cannot be conceived a greater distance: so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts; which may denote the heavenliness of the ways and thoughts of God, the eternity and unsearchableness of them, and their excellency and preciousness; as well as the very great distance between his ways and thoughts and men's which this is designed to illustrate.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For as the heavens ... - This verse is designed merely to illustrate the idea in the former. There is as great a difference between the plans of God and those of people, as between the heavens and the earth. A similar comparison occurs in Psa 103:11 - For as the heaven is high alcove the earth, So great is his mercy toward them that fear him. Compare Psa 57:10 - For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, And thy truth unto the clouds.
THE text speaks of thoughts. It mentions the thoughts of man and the thoughts of God. The power of thought is one point in which man is made in the image of God. Other animated creatures which are put in subjection to the thinking, intelligent creature, man, have no fellowship with God in thought—into His world of pure spirit they cannot enter. To the majestic lion or to the monstrous leviathan, no speech could be addressed by God involving the terms, "My thoughts," and "your thoughts." But the Lord is here speaking to a creature of another mold which He has made a living soul, capable of fellowship with the invisible, the spiritual, and the Divine. When men do not think, and especially when they do not think of the highest and most important matters, they degrade themselves from the true position and occupation of immortal minds. The beast's spirit goes downward—and frivolous, thoughtless persons do as much as they can to descend to the groveling level of the mere animal. Thought is that which likens us unto God. The powers of mind, when rightly exercised upon eternal things, are the means of uplifting us to the highest point to which unaided human nature can attain. And low as this point is, it is vastly better than brutish carelessness. I see the thoughtless soul yonder moving on all fours with the beast looking for nothing more than food and drink. The thoughtful I see walking erect with his brow toward Heaven seeking for something which clods of clay cannot yield him. I am thankful this morning if you have begun to think upon spiritual things, and though there should unhappily be a spice of skepticism about your thoughts—though they should be mournfully far from being God's thoughts—yet I shall hail it as no ill omen if you think at all.
VERY often must the great Truth of God expressed by this Scripture have forced itself upon every thoughtful mind. Though we think and are so far like God because, being intelligent beings, we have thoughts of our own, yet our thoughts must forever be weak and fragmentary as compared with His thoughts. And though, as free agents, we have ways of our own choice—in some of which we move with great show of wisdom—yet our ways are upon the earth and cannot attain to the ways of the Lord which are far above us. This is true as to His proceedings in Providence. God's designs are vast and far-reaching and His methods are frequently strange and inscrutable, though always wise. We have little plans to suit our little foresight and power, but His ways are unsearchable! Oftentimes He brings light of excessive brightness out of darkness more dense than usual and produces superior joys out of extraordinary sorrows. In infinite wisdom He causes the most furious storms to cast up upon the shore the pearl of peace. He is wonderful both in counsel and in working and always chooses that way in which His Glory is most abundantly displayed. Our way, which for a time we think to be the best, when scanned by the enlightened eye soon turns out to be as much beneath God's way of accomplishing the desired purpose as the earth is beneath the heavens. Compared with Him our wisdom is folly and our prudence madness. Indeed, we may not compare ourselves with the Lord, for there is no comparison! Call it a contrast and you have the word. So sublime is Providence that we do not comprehend it! So good is it that we are filled with wonder as we see its designs unfolded. We see its bright side at times and sun ourselves in its warm light and then we adore and magnify the Lord.
5 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
AT first men have very low ideas of sin. It is a trifle, a mere mistake, a failure of judgment, a little going aside—but when the Holy Spirit begins to deal with them sin grows to be an intolerable burden—a fearsome thing full of horror and dismay. The more men know of the evil of sin, the more astounded they are that they ever should have found any pleasure in it, or could have made any excuse for it.
AT first men have very low ideas of sin. It is a trifle, a mere mistake, a failure of judgment, a little going aside—but when the Holy Spirit begins to deal with them sin grows to be an intolerable burden—a fearsome thing full of horror and dismay. The more men know of the evil of sin, the more astounded they are that they ever should have found any pleasure in it, or could have made any excuse for it. Now, it is well when men begin to see the truth about themselves, for even if that truth breaks them into pieces and grinds them small as the dust of the threshing floor, it is well that they are delivered from the dominion of falsehood. At this time, however, while the thought of sin becomes clear, the thought of pardon is not at first so clear. Sin is great and for that reason the sinner thinks it cannot be pardoned, as if he measured the Lord by his sin and fancied that his sin was greater than the mercy of God! Hence our difficulty with men who are really awakened, is to raise their thoughts of God's mercy in proportion to their raised idea of the greatness of sin. While they do not feel their sin, they say that God is merciful and talk very flippantly about it, as if pardon were a trifle. But when they feel the weight of sin, then they think it impossible that sin should be forgiven! In our text God in condescension helps the sinner to believe in pardon by elevating his idea of God. Because God is infinitely superior to man, He can abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." He can abundantly pardon because His Nature is not on our level.
THE text speaks of thoughts. It mentions the thoughts of man and the thoughts of God. The power of thought is one point in which man is made in the image of God. Other animated creatures which are put in subjection to the thinking, intelligent creature, man, have no fellowship with God in thought—into His world of pure spirit they cannot enter. To the majestic lion or to the monstrous leviathan, no speech could be addressed by God involving the terms, "My thoughts," and "your thoughts."
VERY often must the great Truth of God expressed by this Scripture have forced itself upon every thoughtful mind. Though we think and are so far like God because, being intelligent beings, we have thoughts of our own, yet our thoughts must forever be weak and fragmentary as compared with His thoughts. And though, as free agents, we have ways of our own choice—in some of which we move with great show of wisdom—yet our ways are upon the earth and cannot attain to the ways of the Lord which are far above us.
For as the heavens are higher - I am persuaded that כ caph, the particle of comparison, is lost in this place, from the likeness of the particle כי ki, immediately preceding it. So Houbigant and Secker. And their remark is confirmed by all the ancient Versions, which express it; and by the following passage of Psa 103:11, which is almost the same: - הארץ על שמים כגבה כי haarets al shamayim chigboah ki יראיו על חסדו גבר yereaiv al chasdo gabar “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So high is his goodness over them that fear him.” Where, by the nature of the sentence, the verb in the second line ought to be the same with that in the first; גבה gabah, not גבר gabar: so Archbishop Secker conjectured; referring however to Psa 117:2.
How the passage was read
On Isaiah 55:1-13On Isaiah 55:1-13
How the synagogue has read this chapter
This chapter is not a shelf text in Jewish practice. A haftarah is a short reading from the Prophets that follows the Torah reading in the synagogue service, chosen long ago to match the day; and the passage beginning “Seek the LORD while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6–56:8) is the haftarah appointed for the afternoon of public fast days in the Ashkenazi rite. A public fast day is a day the whole community goes without food to turn back to God together, the way Nineveh fasted in Jonah. So for centuries, these are the words a congregation hears at precisely the moment it is repenting.
In the Babylonian Talmud (tractate Ta’anit, compiled by about the sixth century AD), the chapter’s water is Torah, God’s teaching. “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters” (55:1) is expounded in Ta’anit 7a: as water leaves high ground and gathers low, the words of Torah endure only in the humble. The rain of verses 10–11, which “does not return empty,” stands in the same discussions (Ta’anit 6b–7a): rain that makes the earth bear becomes the sages’ picture of a word from heaven that accomplishes what it was sent to do.
What the individual commentators add on this verse, in their own words, follows below.
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For, just as the rain and the snow fall and do not return empty, but do good for you.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Ta’anit 7a (Babylonian Talmud) · Ta’anit 6b · Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 566 (the fast-day rite, with Rema)
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גָבְה֥וּ | gavehu | they are high | H1361 → | 34 times |
| שָׁמַ֖יִם | shamayim | [the] heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| מֵאָ֑רֶץ | mearetz | more than [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כֵּ֣ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| גָּבְה֤וּ | gavehu | they are high | H1361 → | 34 times |
| דְרָכַי֙ | derakhai | ways my | H1870 → | 707 times |
| מִדַּרְכֵיכֶ֔ם | midarkheikhem | more than ways your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וּמַחְשְׁבֹתַ֖י | umachshevotai | and thoughts my | H4284 → | 56 times |
| מִמַּחְשְׁבֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ | mimachshevoteikhem | more than thoughts your | H4284 → | 56 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
גָבְה֥וּthey are high
gavehuH1361 →34 times
שָׁמַ֖יִם[the] heavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
מֵאָ֑רֶץmore than [the] earth
mearetzH776 →2504 times
כֵּ֣ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
גָּבְה֤וּthey are high
gavehuH1361 →34 times
דְרָכַי֙ways my
derakhaiH1870 →707 times
מִדַּרְכֵיכֶ֔םmore than ways your
midarkheikhemH1870 →707 times
וּמַחְשְׁבֹתַ֖יand thoughts my
umachshevotaiH4284 →56 times
מִמַּחְשְׁבֹתֵיכֶֽם׃more than thoughts your
mimachshevoteikhemH4284 →56 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 103:11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
it leads to
- Psalms 57:10
For Your loving devotion reaches to the heavens, and Your faithfulness to the clouds.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 1:50
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.
- Psalms 57:10
Through
Matthew 11:25At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
it leads to
- Matthew 21:16
“Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”
- Psalms 8:2
From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger.
- Matthew 16:17
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.
- Luke 10:21–24
At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them…
- 1 Corinthians 1:18–29
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- Matthew 21:16
Through
Psalms 36:5Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.
it leads to
- Psalms 100:5
For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.
- Psalms 100:5
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 676: “Man'S Thoughts And God'S Thoughts” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1387: “God's Thoughts and Ways Far Above Ours” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2181: “God Forgiving Sin” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Prudentius, AGAINST SYMMACHUS 2:123-40 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.