Isaiah 40:23

Complete Jewish Bible

He reduces princes to nothing, the rulers of the earth to emptiness.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He reduces princes to nothingand makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.

Hebrew Names Version
who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the eretz as vanity.

King James Version
That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

English Standard Version
who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

New American Standard Bible
It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

New Century Version
He makes rulers unimportant and the judges of this world worth nothing.

Amplified Bible
It is He who reduces dignitaries to nothing, Who makes the judges (rulers) of the earth meaningless (useless).

World English Bible
who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth as vanity.

Geneva Bible (1587)
He bringeth the princes to nothing, and maketh the iudges of the earth, as vanitie,

Legacy Standard Bible
It is He who reduces rulers to nothing,Who makes the judges of the earth utterly formless.

Berean Standard Bible
He brings the princes to nothing and makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

Contemporary English Version
God brings down rulers and turns them into nothing.

Darby Translation
that bringeth the princes to nothing, that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Easy-to-Read Version
He takes away the power of rulers. He makes the world's leaders completely worthless.

George Lamsa Translation
Who brings princes to nought; and makes the judges of the earth as if they were nothing.

Good News Translation
He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing.

Lexham English Bible
the one who brings princes to nothing; he makes rulers of the earth like nothing.

Literal Translation
who gives potentates into nothing. He makes judges of the earth as nothing.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
That he bringeth princes to nothinge, and the iudges of the earth to dust:

American Standard Version
that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Bible in Basic English
He makes rulers come to nothing; the judges of the earth are of no value.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
That bringeth princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as a thing of nought.

King James Version (1611)
That bringeth the princes to nothing; hee maketh the Iudges of the earth as vanitie.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He bringeth princes to nothing, and the iudges of the earth as though they were not.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing.

English Revised Version
that bringeth princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Which yyueth the sercheris of priuytees, as if thei be not, and made the iugis of erthe as a veyn thing.

Update Bible Version
that brings princes to nothing; that makes the judges of the earth as vanity.

Webster's Bible Translation
That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

New English Translation
He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth's leaders insignificant.

New King James Version
He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.

New Living Translation
He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.

New Life Bible
It is He Who brings rulers down to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth as nothing.

New Revised Standard
who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Who delivereth dignitaries to nothingness, - Judges of earth, like a desolation, hath he made:

Douay-Rheims Bible
He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity.

Revised Standard Version
who brings princes to nought, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

Young's Literal Translation
He who is making princes become nothing, Judges of earth as emptiness hath made;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ With whom, then, will you compare God? By what standard will you evaluate him? ¹⁹ An image made by a craftsman, which a goldsmith overlays with gold, for which he then casts silver chains? ²⁰ A man too poor to afford an offering chooses a piece of wood that won't rot, then seeks out a skilled artisan to prepare an image that won't fall over. ²¹ Don't you know? Don't you hear? Haven't you been told from the start? Don't you understand how the earth is set up? ²² He who sits above the circle of the earth — for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers — stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreads them out like a tent to live in. ²³ He reduces princes to nothing, the rulers of the earth to emptiness. ²⁴ Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely their stem taken root in the ground, when he blows on them, they dry up, and the whirlwind carries them off like straw. ²⁵ "With whom, then, will you compare me? With whom am I equal?" asks the Holy One. ²⁶ Turn your eyes to the heavens! See who created these? He brings out the army of them in sequence, summoning each by name. Through his great might and his massive strength, not one of them is missing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 19:13, Isaiah 19:14, Isaiah 23:9, Isaiah 24:21, Isaiah 24:22, Job 12:21, Job 34:19, Job 34:20, Psalms 76:12, Psalms 107:40, Jeremiah 25:18-27, Luke 1:51, Luke 1:52, Revelation 19:18-20

Reciprocal: Job 21:22 - he judgeth Job 35:5 - Look Jeremiah 10:24 - lest 1 Corinthians 2:6 - of the

Cross-References

Genesis 40:15
For the truth is that I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and here too I have done nothing wrong that would justify putting me in this dungeon."

Genesis 40:16
When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Yosef, "I too saw in my dream: there were three baskets of white bread on my head.

Job 19:14
my kinsfolk have failed me, and my close friends have forgotten me.

Psalms 31:12
I am scorned by all my adversaries, and even more by my neighbors; even to acquaintances I am an object of fear — when they see me in the street, they turn away from me.

Psalms 105:19
until the time when his word proved true, God's utterance kept testing him.

Amos 6:6
You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but feel no grief at the ruin of Yosef.

Gill's Notes on the 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 Psalms 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 Psalms 2:10 :

Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings;

Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.