Isaiah 40:17 · Bible study
Isaiah 40:17 Commentary: All Nations as Nothing Before God
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Isaiah 40:17 declares all nations are 'less than nothing' before God.
Research Summary
- Meaning: All nations, no matter how powerful, are utterly insignificant when compared to God; He accounts them as nonexistent and empty.
- Key words: Ayin (nothing), ephes (nothingness, cessation), tohu (formlessness, chaos; echoes Genesis 1:2), nechshevu (they are regarded, Niphal passive).
- Main debate: Is ‘less than nothing’ comparative hyperbole (Barnes, Calvin) or a partitive expression meaning ‘belonging to nothingness’ (Keil & Delitzsch, noting Isaiah 41:24)?
- Theological theme: God’s incomparable greatness humbles human pride and comforts the powerless; no earthly power can stand against His purposes.
- Best use: Teaching on the sovereignty of God, encouragement for those facing overwhelming opposition, and correcting an over-inflated view of human institutions.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
WEB World English Bible 2000
All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
KJV King James Version 1769
All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
All the nations are as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
All the nations are as nothing before him; they are esteemed by him less than a cipher, and vanity.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing, and vanity.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Como nada son todas las gentes delante de él; y en su comparación serán estimadas en menos que nada, y que lo que no es.
Todas as nações são como nada perante ele; menos que nada e vazio ele as considera.
Toutes les nations sont devant lui comme un rien,
Alle Heiden sind vor ihm nichts und wie ein Nichtiges und Eitles geachtet.
Alle volken zijn als niets voor Hem; en zij worden bij Hem geacht minder dan niet, en ijdelheid.
Tutte le nazioni son come nulla dinanzi a lui; ei le reputa meno che nulla, una vanità.
Wszystkie narody są jako nic przed nim; za nic i za marność poczytane są u niego.
Все народы пред Ним как ничто, - менее ничтожества и пустоты считаются у Него.
萬 民 在他面前 好像虛無，被他 看為 不及虛無，乃為虛空。
All the nations are as nothing before him; even less than nothing, a thing of no value.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 40:17
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse intensifies the imagery of verse 15. The nations are not merely a drop from a bucket or dust on a scale; they are nothing (אַיִן, ayin) before God. Calvin explains that this is said ‘by comparison,’ aiming to humble human pride when people exalt themselves against God, not to deny that nations have real existence or value from God. Barnes notes the phrase ‘less than nothing’ is a ‘strong hyperbolic expression’ underscoring utter insignificance. The Hebrew תֹּהוּ (tohu, ‘emptiness’) deliberately echoes Genesis 1:2, the formless chaos before creation, implying that nations, when set against the Creator, amount to less than a starting point. The verb נֶחְשְׁבוּ (nechshevu, ‘they are regarded,’ Niphal perfect) places the perspective squarely on God’s estimation, it is His view that empties every human power of its apparent weight. Matthew Henry applies the point pastorally: the scope of the passage is to encourage God’s captive people to trust in Him despite their oppressors’ strength.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Whether comparative or partitive, the verse forcefully declares that all human power, when set alongside God, holds no weight or independent reality.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'less than nothing' | The phrase is a strong expression of human insignificance before God's majesty. | Barnes and Calvin treat it as hyperbolic comparison; Keil & Delitzsch argue the preposition min is partitive ('belonging to nothingness'), citing Isaiah 41:24. |
| Does the verse deny the value of nations? | God created the nations and cares for them; the verse addresses their standing when compared to God, not their existence or worth in His creation purposes. | Some readings emphasize the humbling of pride (Calvin), while others see it as a comfort against being afraid of nations (Matthew Henry), both are complementary, not conflicting. |
| Connection to Genesis 1:2 | The word tohu is the same term used for the formless earth before creation, reinforcing the idea of emptiness. | Gill highlights the parallel explicitly; other commentators (e.g., Cambridge Bible) do not emphasize the connection, focusing instead on the rhetorical buildup from verse 15. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 40 opens the section often called ‘The Book of Comfort’ (chapters 40, 55), addressed to Judah in exile. The nations, Babylon, Assyria, and their allies, loomed large as military and political threats. Israel’s God seemed silent; the idols of the conquerors appeared victorious. Into this crisis the prophet declares that these imposing empires are, from God’s vantage point, nonexistent.
The imagery builds from verse 15: a drop falling from a bucket does not lighten it; fine dust on a balance does not tip the scale; the coastlands (אִיִּים, iyyim) are lifted like a trivial speck. The Cambridge Bible notes that ‘the isles’ is a characteristic term in this half of Isaiah, denoting the Mediterranean lands, and that the prophet uses it with ‘great laxity,’ almost as a synonym for ‘lands’ far off. The rhetorical escalation reaches its peak in verse 17: not just small, but nothing.
The verb חָשַׁב (chashav, ‘to think, esteem, reckon’) in the Niphal stem means ‘to be accounted’, God runs the calculation. The result: the nations are subsumed under אֶפֶס (ephes, ‘nothingness, cessation’) and תֹּהוּ (tohu, ‘formless waste’). The same word tohu described the primeval earth (Genesis 1:2). By using it here, Isaiah suggests that human power structures, at their proudest height, revert to the chaos that preceded creation itself. This is deliberate literary shock, meant to break the spell of fear.
The surrounding context (verses 18, 26) drives the point home: no idol compares to God; He sits above the circle of the earth; He brings princes to nothing. The verse therefore functions both as comfort for the oppressed and as a warning against trusting in human might.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Isaiah 40:17. The Masoretic Text is stable across manuscripts. The three key terms, אַיִן (ayin), אֶפֶס (ephes), and תֹּהוּ (tohu), are universally attested. The verb נֶחְשְׁבוּ (nechshevu) appears in the Niphal perfect, consistent across witnesses.
Reception History
This verse has been read across Christian traditions as a foundational statement of God’s transcendence. Early interpreters saw its echo of Genesis 1:2 as linking human rebellion to the chaos that God overcomes. In the Reformation, Calvin and the Geneva Bible used it to curb the pride of earthly rulers and to reassure believers facing persecution. The verse also appears in hymnody celebrating God’s sovereign power, and in devotional works that call readers to measure their anxieties against the scale of God’s greatness. Its placement in Isaiah 40, the opening of the ‘Book of Comfort’, has made it a frequent text for Advent and for sermons on trusting God amid political upheaval.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God’s scale, not ours. We measure nations by armies, economies, and influence. God measures them against His own being, and the only honest number is zero.
- The vocabulary of chaos. The Hebrew word tohu (formlessness) reaches back to Genesis 1:2. Nations, when set against God, are not just small, they are pre-creation chaos, lacking any stable reality apart from Him.
- Comfort for the powerless. This verse was given to exiles surrounded by Babylon. If Babylon is nothing before God, then Babylon cannot finally harm God’s people. The same applies today.
Five-point outline
- The buildup: a drop of a bucket, dust on a scale, a grain of powder, each image shrinks humanity further, until verse 17 collapses all comparison into absolute nothing.
- ‘Less than nothing’: The Hebrew preposition min in מֵאֶפֶס may be comparative (less than nothing) or partitive (belonging to nothingness). Both readings deny any intrinsic weight before God.
- Why it shocks: God made the nations. He values them. But when they set themselves against Him, their rebellion empties them of any standing.
- The verb ‘are regarded’: Nechshevu (Niphal passive), God is the accountant. Human opinion of a nation’s greatness is irrelevant; only His reckoning stands.
- Turning point for hope: Immediately after (v. 18) comes the question, ‘To whom then will you liken God?’ The utter emptiness of nations clears the stage for the incomparable God alone.
Illustration hooks
- A grain of sand compared to the entire Sahara Desert. Now multiply the desert by infinity, that is still closer to the difference between nations and God.
- Standing at the foot of a mountain, a person feels small. Now imagine shrinking every political superpower into a single speck that even the most precise scale cannot register.
- Reading a history book that treats one empire as central, then realizing that from heaven’s perspective, that empire’s entire span is shorter than a pause between breaths.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God sees nations as nothing, does He care about their suffering and injustice?
- Does this verse mean I am nothing to God? If so, how does that fit with being valued by Him?
- How do I trust God’s power when the ‘nations’ (governments, economies, institutions) seem overwhelming?
Leading a Discussion
This verse forces us to recalibrate our perspective on power. We live in a world that constantly tells us which nations, leaders, and movements matter most. Isaiah 40:17 says God does not share that list. Use these questions to help your group wrestle with what it means that God alone is truly great, and what that means for how we pray, fear, and hope.
Discussion questions
- Read Isaiah 40:15, 17. What images does the prophet use to shrink the nations? How does each one get more extreme?
- The Hebrew word tohu appears in Genesis 1:2 to describe the ‘formless and void’ earth. Why would Isaiah choose that word for nations? What does it tell us about human power structures apart from God?
- Verse 17 says nations are ‘regarded’ as less than nothing. Who is doing the regarding? How does God’s viewpoint differ from the way we usually evaluate countries or institutions?
- Some commentators (like Calvin) insist this verse is a comparison to humble pride, not a statement that nations lack all value. Others (like Barnes) see it as deliberate hyperbole. Does this distinction matter for how we read the verse? Which interpretation fits the larger context of comfort for exiles?
- Look at cross-references: Daniel 4:35 and Psalm 62:9. How do these verses echo or expand what Isaiah says? What do they add about God’s rule over human rulers?
- If God sees nations as nothing, how should this shape our prayers for our country, our leaders, or world events? Does it make us more bold or more resigned?
- How does the next verse (v. 18), ‘To whom then will you liken God?’ function as a turning point? If nations are nothing, what does that free us to focus on instead?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 25:6 | How much less man, who is a worm, and the son of man, who is a worm!” |
| Psalms 62:9 | Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath. |
| Isaiah 29:7 | The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night. |
| Daniel 4:34 | At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation. |
| Daniel 4:35 | All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can stop his hand, or ask him, “What are you doing?” |
| II Corinthians 12:11 | I have become foolish in boasting. You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for I am in no way inferior to the very best apostles, though I am nothing. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights that the Hebrew word for "vanity" here is the same term used in Genesis 1:2 for "without form." He reads "less than nothing" as deliberate hyperbole, stressing the total insignificance of all nations when measured against God's infinite majesty.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin argues that Isaiah calls nations "nothing" not as a statement of their created value but as a comparative truth meant to humble human pride. When mortals exalt themselves against God, their sin obscures His majesty. In that contest, everything set beside God is worthless and vain.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator notes that the Hebrew text intensifies human insignificance: "a drop from the bucket" falls away without lessening the weight, and "the small dust" does not tip the scale. The term "isles" refers loosely to all habitable lands, and "vanity" echoes the primeval chaos of Genesis 1:2, placing humanity in the category of nothingness before God.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note drives home the radical insignificance of every nation when set before God. They are not merely nothing; they are counted as less than nothing and utterly empty. The point is that human power and scale vanish entirely in the presence of the Creator.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasizes that God does not merely see nations as small but as absolute nothing—less than nothing, like the formless void described by the Hebrew words "tohu" and "bohu" in Genesis. This comparison is meant to humble human pride and diminish any glory the nations might claim for themselves.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB explains that the phrase less than nothing actually means "of nothing" in the sense of a mere nothing, drawing on a translation by Maurer. The term "vanity" points to emptiness, reinforcing the total insignificance of the nations before God.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch observe that the prophet uses two distinct Hebrew words to intensify the idea of nothingness: 'ephes points to absolute non-existence where being ceases, while tohu evokes the formless desolation of pre-creation chaos. They note that the phrase "less than nothing" is not a comparison but a partitive, meaning the nations are counted as belonging to that very nullity itself.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange reads the double punishment not as exact justice but as rhetorical hyperbole, an exaggerated way of saying that God’s compassionate love now excuses itself for having chastised so severely. The people have fully tasted the bitter fruit of their sin, and that season of suffering is over.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry insists that God's tender condescension in calling himself a shepherd must never diminish the overwhelming grandeur of his power. The same God who feeds his flock also measures the heavens with a span and weighs the mountains. Believers should hold both truths together: his grace is intimate, but his glory is infinite.