Isaiah 40

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:13

Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord ,.... In the creation of all things, in garnishing the heavens, and moving upon the face of the waters? not anyone, angel or man; there were none with him, nor did he need any to guide and direct him what to do F19 : or being his counsellor, hath taught him ? or, "the man of his counsel F20 איש עצתו "vir a consiliis", Junius & Tremellius Piscator. "; there was no other than the Wonderful Counsellor, the Angel of the great... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:14

With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him ,.... This is the same as before, only repeated in other words, the more strongly to deny that any mere creature counselled, taught, and instructed the Spirit of Christ, in the ordering and managing the works of creation: and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding ? or gave him that judgment, knowledge, and understanding in framing the world, and all things in it, in that... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:15

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket ,.... Not only the Chaldeans and Babylonians, and other nations most known, and most troublesome to the Jews, but all the nations of the world; these, in comparison of God, of his infinite and immense Being, are but as a drop of water that hangs upon the bucket, or falls from it, when water is drawn by it, or is left in it, when poured out of it; which is nothing in comparison of the well out of which the water is drawn, or even of the water in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:16

And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn ,.... The trees of it, as the Targum; these are not sufficient to burn a sacrifice with, suitable to the dignity and majesty of God, and as his justice can require for offences committed: nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering , though it was a mountain and forest which abounded with trees, and especially cedars, and there was a great quantity of cattle in it, yet neither were sufficient to furnish out a proper burnt offering to the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:17

All nations before him are as nothing ,.... As if they were nonentities, and were not real beings in comparison of him, who is the Being of beings, the author of all beings which exist in all nations; who are all in his sight, and are not only as grasshoppers, as is after mentioned, but even as nothing: and they are counted to him as less than nothing, and vanity ; if there is or could be such a thing less than nothing, that they are; and so they are accounted of by him; they are like... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:18

To whom then will ye liken God ?.... There is nothing in the whole creation that can bear any resemblance to him, or he to them; since all nations are as a drop of the bucket, as the small dust of the balance, as nothing, yea, less than nothing, and vanity: "or what likeness will ye compare unto him", F23 ומה דמות תערכו לו "et quid similitudinis ponetis ei", Pagninus; "ordinabitis", Montanus; "disponetis", Vatablus. order, ordain, and appoint for him? in what rank can he be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:19

The workman melteth a graven image ,.... Or, "the founder"; he melts some sort of metal, as iron, brass, copper, or lead, which he casts into a mould for an image, and afterwards graves, or gets it graved: and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold ; or, "the finer"; he stretches out plates of gold, and covers it with them, so that it looks as if it was made of solid gold, and deceives the eyes of men; such stupidity and vanity are there in mortals to believe that there can be deity... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:20

He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation ,.... Who is so poor that he cannot bring an offering to his God, yet he will have one; and though he cannot purchase a golden or silver one, or one that is gilt, and adorned with either; yet he will have a wooden one, as follows. Some render it, "he that is set over the oblation", which Aben Ezra mentions; that was over the treasury, where the oblations were; the Heathen priest, whose business it was from thence to procure idols to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:21

Have ye not known? This is the speech of the prophet, directed to the idolaters, appealing to their own natural knowledge, who, from the light of nature, might know that idols were nothing, had no divinity in them: that it is God that made the earth and governs the world, and who only ought to be worshipped: have ye not heard ? by tradition from the ancients, from your forefathers, who received it from theirs, and have delivered it to you: hath it not been told you from the beginning ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 40:22

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth ,.... Or, "the globe F26 על חוג "super sphaeram", Pagninus; "globum", Montanus Vatablus; "super orbem telluris", Vitringa. " of it; for the earth is spherical or globular: not a flat plain, but round, hung as a ball in the air; here Jehovah sits as the Lord and Sovereign; being the Maker of it, he is above it, orders and directs its motion, and governs all things in it: Kimchi rightly observes, that the heavens are the circle of... read more

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