Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 40:23
That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
23, 24. The majesty of God displayed in Providence.
princes ] dignitaries (a poetic word), “potent, grave and reverend signiors.” as vanity ] “as nothingness,” lit. “chaos”; see on Isa 40:17. For he maketh, render who maketh.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 same idea is expressed in Job 12:21 :
He poureth contempt upon princes,
And weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
And in Psa 107:40 :
He poureth contempt upon princes,
And causeth them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way.
The particular idea here, as appears from the next verse, is, that the princes and rulers who are opposed to God constitute no real resistance to the execution of his purposes. He can strip off their honors and glory, and obliterate even their names.
He maketh the judges of the earth – Kings and princes often executed judgment personally, and hence, the words judges and kings seem to be synonymous as they are used here, and in Psa 2:10 :
Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings;
Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 40:23-24
That bringeth the princes to nothing
Great men reduced to nothing
Earth has its great men.
Social distinctions grow out of the constitution of things, and are, therefore, Divine in their foundation.
I. EARTHS GREAT MEN GOD REDUCES TO NOTHING.
1. Death is the destruction of all mere worldly distinctions.
2. Death is effected by the agency of God. He bringeth, etc. Not chance, fate, accident, etc.
II. Earths great men He reduces to nothing NOTWITHSTANDING THEIR DETERMINED EFFORTS TO BE SOMETHING. Their stock shall not take root in the earth;
1. The implied tendency of earths great men in relation to life. They seek to root themselves here.
2. The manifest folly of earths great men. They are trying to do what they cannot accomplish. Heavens decree is against it, and there is no overcoming that decree. The roots of our earthly life, such as they are, are only like those of certain marine plants, that spring up one floating wavelet to be destroyed by the next; or rather like the roots of those atmospheric plants that strike only into a wave of air; that roll swiftly on, Heaven only knows where.
III. HE DOES THIS WITH THE GREATEST EASE. He blows upon them and they wither, etc. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
That bringeth the princes to nothing; that can at his pleasure destroy all the great potentates of the world.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. (Psa 107:4;Dan 2:21).
judgesthat is, rulers;for these exercised judicial authority (Ps2:10). The Hebrew, shophtee, answers to the Carthaginianchief magistrates, suffetes.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This is followed by a series of predicates of God the Ruler of the universe. “He who giveth up rulers to annihilation; maketh judges of the earth like a desolation. They are hardly planted, hardly sown, their stem has hardly taken root in the earth, and He only blows upon them, and they dry up, and the storm carries them away like stubble.” There is nothing so high and inaccessible in the world, that He cannot bring it to nothing, even in the midst of its most self-confident and threatening exaltation. Roz e nm are solemn persons, , possessors of the greatest distinction and influence; shoph e lm , those who combine in themselves the highest judicial and administrative power. The former He gives up to annihilation; the latter He brings into a condition resembling the negative state of the tohu out of which the world was produced, and to which it can be reduced again. We are reminded here of such descriptions as Job 12:17, Job 12:24. The suddenness of the catastrophe is depicted in Isa 40:24. (which only occurs here), when followed by in the apodosis (cf., 2Ki 20:4), signifies that even this has not yet taken place when the other also occurs: hence vixdum plantati sunt , etc. The niphal and the pual denote the hopeful commencement; the poel the hopeful continuation. A layer or seed excites the hope of blossom and fruit, more especially when it has taken root; but nothing more is needed than a breath of Jehovah, and it is all over with it (the verb nashaph is used in this verse, where plants with stems are referred to; a verb with a softer labial, nashabh , was employed above in connection with grass and flowers). A single withering breath lays them at rest; and by the power of Jehovah there rises a stormy wind, which carries them away like light dry stubble ( ) ; compare, on the other hand, the verb used in Isa 40:15, viz., tul = natal , to lift up, to keep in the air).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
23. He bringeth the mighty to nothing. He proceeds in extolling the providence of God, by which he governs the whole world, but more especially mankind. Already and but a little ago he had begun to remark that God did not create the world, so as afterwards to allow it to be governed by chance, but that he undertakes the preservation of it, and keeps it under his power and authority; but as he deigns to look more closely at mankind, so the Prophet selects this department, that by means of it he may extol God’s providence. The sum of what he says is, that God’s government extends far and wide, so that he directs and governs everything according to his pleasure; but he shews, (what was also highly advantageous to be known,) that even in the life of men striking proofs of the immediate exercise of the power of God are visible, and, not even satisfied with the general doctrine, he brings forward one class which ought still more to arouse our attention.
The governors of the earth as if they were not. (120) Anything that happens to the undistinguished mass of common people is despised and passed by as unworthy of being observed; but when kingdoms and monarchies, or men of high rank, fall from their elevation, it seems as if the earth had been shaken; and the Prophet skilfully avails himself of such proofs to arouse us. It might, indeed, be supposed that princes and magistrates are exempted from the common lot, and are not subject to the ordinary miseries of men; for by their splendor they dazzle the eyes and understandings of all men. But their lustre is entirely dimmed; and therefore the Prophet especially mentions them, and declares that the Lord “bringeth them to nothing.” And if the hand of God is so powerful against nobles and princes, what must we think of the common people? Will he not also treat the ordinary crowd according to his pleasure, and drive them wherever he thinks fit? Will he not either give or take away from them, whenever he pleases, both strength and courage?
(120) “He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.” — Eng. Ver. “The judges (or rulers) of the earth like emptiness (or desolation) he has made.” — Alexander.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) That bringeth the princes to nothing.The words imply, like those of Isa. 14:9, the prophetic strain of experience. The past is full of the records of kingdoms that are no more; so also shall the future be; mortalia facta peribunt. In vanity we have the familiar tohu once more.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23, 24. Princes judges vanity Other predicates are here added respecting God, the ruler of the universe. He annihilates the potentates and judges of the earth when they displease him. In various ways hevisits them. They are scarcely planted, (to use the figure of the verse,) scarcely sown, etc., ere the hot eastern blast withers them, and carries them away. The meaning is plain, though the figure is mixed.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 40:23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
Isa 40:24 Isa 40:25 Isa 40:26 Isa 40:26
Psa 147:4, “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.”
One thing that is important to note by this statement is that we have the names of some of these stars as well as constellations recorded in Scriptures. In the books of Job and Amos, we find the names of the constellations Pleiades, Orion, Arcturus and Castor and Pollux. Although these are Latinized names, the Hebrew text hands down to us a more ancient name for these constellations. We also find as well as a reference to the twelve constellations of the Zodiac called by the Hebrew name Mazzaroth.
Job 9:9, “Which maketh Arcturus , Orion , and Pleiades , and the chambers of the south.”
Job 38:31-32, “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades , or loose the bands of Orion ? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?”
Amo 5:8, “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion , and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:”
Act 28:11, “And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux .”
The phrase “the crooked serpent” found in Job 26:13 is a possible reference to a number of constellations with which the serpent is identified.
Job 26:13, “By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent .”
Isa 40:26 “not one faileth” Word Study on “faileth” Gesenius says the Hebrew word “faileth” ( ) (H5737) means, “to make oneself naked, to be naked,” and it means, “to be helpless, void of aid.” Strong says it means, “to arrange, as a battle, a vineyard (to hoe); hence, to muster and so to miss (or find wanting).”
Comments – Modern English versions translate this Hebrew word as “missing” ( DRC, ESV, God’sWord, NAB, NASB, NET, NCV, NKJV, NRSV, Rotherham, RSV), or “lacking” ( ASV, WEB, YLT). Brenton reads, “nothing has escaped thee.” However, the BBE reads, “all of them are in their places,” which implies that each star has been set in a particular place in the universe. It would imply that God has placed each star in its place in order to form the constellations. Every star in the universe has its place and order in serving in its divine role as signs and seasons for mankind (Gen 1:14) (see Albert Barnes). [56]
[56] Albert Barnes, Isaiah, in Barnes’ Notes, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1997), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), comments on Isaiah 40:26.
Gen 1:14, “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:”
Isa 40:26 Scripture Reference – A similar verse:
Rom 1:20, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Isa 40:23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
Ver. 23. That bringeth princes to nothing. ] After their part acted here a while, they go off the stage of life, and are seen no more. Augustus Caesar said, that his life was nothing else but a kind of a comedy; and that he had acted his part, as became him, and therefore, at his death, he called for a Plaudite. applause.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 19:13, Isa 19:14, Isa 23:9, Isa 24:21, Isa 24:22, Job 12:21, Job 34:19, Job 34:20, Psa 76:12, Psa 107:40, Jer 25:18-27, Luk 1:51, Luk 1:52, Rev 19:18-20
Reciprocal: Job 21:22 – he judgeth Job 35:5 – Look Jer 10:24 – lest 1Co 2:6 – of the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
People of position and office, as well as the decision-makers of the world, may appear to wield power, but they are really under the enthroned God’s authority. He can dispose of any human leader because He is over all of them. He can dispense with them just as easily as He can make flowers wither and blow chaff away (cf. Isa 40:6-8). He can reduce them to a state of comparative nothingness (Heb. tohu; cf. Gen 1:2). Thus He is not only superior but sovereign. Furthermore, He is imminent as well as transcendent. God did not just create the world and then abandon it, as deism teaches.