Isaiah 40:22

Isa 40:22 [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof [are] as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

Ver. 22. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.] As sovereign, and is he fit to be portrayed? In Thebes, a town of Egypt, they painted God in the likeness of a man blowing an egg out of his mouth, to signify that he made the round world by his word. {a} Others set him forth as an emperor with a globe in one hand, and a light bolt in the other. Peucer and others tell us, that if there were a path made round the circle of the earth, an able footman might easily go it in nine hundred days.

{a} Plut. in Numa.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_40:22

It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth

The circle

While yet people thought that the world was fiat, and thousands of years before they found out that it was round, Isaiah intimated the shape of it.

The most beautiful figure in all geometry is the circle. God made the universe on the plan of a circle. There are in the natural world straight lines, angles, parallelograms, diagonals, quadrangles; but these evidently are not Gods favourites. Out of a great many figures God seems to have selected the circle as the best. It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth. The stars in a circle, the moon in a circle, the sun in a circle, the universe in a circle, and the throne of God the centre of that circle.

1. The history of the world goes in a circle. If the world stands long enough we may have a city as large as they had in old times--Babylon, five times the size of London. You go into the potteries at Burslem, England, and you will find them making cups and vases after the style of the cups and vases exhumed from Pompeii. The world is not going back. But it is swinging in a circle, and will come back to the styles of pottery known so long ago as the days of Pompeii. The world must keep on progressing until it makes the complete circuit.

2. What is true in the material universe is true in Gods moral government and spiritual arrangement. That is the meaning of Ezekiels wheel; the wheel means Gods providence. But a wheel is of no use unless it turns around, and if it turns around it moves in a circle. These bad or good actions may make the circuit of many years, but come back to us they will, as certainly as that God sits on the circle of the earth. Jezebel, the worst woman of the Bible, slew Naboth because she wanted his vineyard. While the dogs were eating the body of Naboth, Elijah the prophet put down his compass, and marked a circle from those dogs clear around to the dogs that should eat the body of Jezebel the murderess. But it is sometimes the case that this circle sweeps through a century, or through many centuries. People got tired of a theocracy. They said--We dont want God directly interfering with the affairs of the world; give us a monarchy. The world had a monarchy. From a monarchy it is going to have a limited monarchy. After a while the limited monarchy will be given up, and the republican form of government will be everywhere recognised. Then the world will get tired of the republican form of government, and it will have an anarchy, which is no government at all. And then, all nations, finding out that man is not capable of righteously governing man, will cry out again for a theocracy, and say, Let God come back and conduct the affairs of the world. But do not become impatient because you cannot see the course of events, and therefore conclude that Gods government is going to break down. History tells us that in the making of the pyramids it took two thousand men two years to drag one great stone from the quarry and put it into the pyramids. If men short-lived can afford to work so slowly as that, cannot God, in the building of the eternities, afford to wait? What though God should take ten thousand years to draw a circle! But it is often the case that the rebound is much quicker than that. The circle is sooner completed. You resolve that you will do what good you can. In one week you put a word of counsel in the heart of a Sabbath-school child. During that same week you give a letter of introduction to a young man struggling in business. During the same week you make an exhortation in a prayer- meeting. It is all gone; you will never hear of it, perhaps, you think. A few years after a man comes up to you and says, You dont know me, do you? You say, No, I dont remember ever to have seen you. Why, he says, I was in the Sabbath-school class over which you were the teacher; one Sunday you invited me to Christ. What is true of the good is just as true of the bad. You utter a slander against your neighbour. It has gone forth from your teeth; it will never come back, you think. You think it will never do you any harm. But I am watching that word, and I see it beginning to curve, and it curves around, and it is aiming at your heart. You maltreat an aged parent. You begrudge him the room in your house. But God has an account to settle with you on that subject. What are those rough words with which your children are accosting you? They are the echo of the very words you used in the ear of your old father forty years ago. Retribution in a circle! I would like to see Paul, the invalid missionary, at the moment when his influence comes to full orb--his influence rolling out through Antioch, Cyprus, Syria, Corinth, Athens, through Asia, through Europe, through five centuries, through twenty centuries, through all the succeeding centuries, through earth, through heaven, and at last, the wave of influence, having made full circuit, strikes his great soul. I should not want to see Voltaire when his influence comes to full orb. No one can tell how that bad mans influence girded the earth, save the One who is seated on the circle of the earth. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)

The inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers

Men as grasshoppers:--

1. So little and inconsiderable.

2. Of such small value.

3. Of such little use.

4. So easily crushed. Proud mens lifting up themselves is but like the grasshoppers leap; in an instant they must down to the earth again. (M. Henry.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

40:22 God sits enthroned as King over all the earth (see 6:1; Pss 2:4; 80:1; 99:1; 102:12; 113:5). God is so immense and awesome that humans are like grasshoppers in comparison. • Belief in God as creator of the heavens and earth contradicts the popular Babylonian and Egyptian belief that the sun, moon, and stars represent gods. • like a curtain . . . his tent: See also Ps 104:2.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

It is he--rather, connected with last verse, "Have ye not known?"--have ye not understood Him that sitteth . . .? (Isa 40:26) [MAURER].

circle--applicable to the globular form of the earth, above which, and the vault of sky around it, He sits. For "upon" translate "above."

as grasshoppers--or locusts in His sight (Num 13:33), as He looks down from on high (Psa 33:13-14; Psa 113:4-6).

curtain--referring to the awning which the Orientals draw over the open court in the center of their houses as a shelter in rain or hot weather.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. As a curtain - "As a thin veil"] "It is usual in the summer season, and upon all occasions when a large company is to be received, to have the court sheltered from heat or inclemency of the weather by a velum, umbrella, or veil, as I shall call it; which being expanded on ropes from one side of the parapet wall to the other, may be folded or unfolded at pleasure. The psalmist seems to allude to some covering of this kind in that beautiful expression of spreading out the heavens like a curtain." - Shaw's Travels, p. 274.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) The circle of the earth—i.e., the vault of heaven over-arching the earth (Job_22:14; Pro_8:27).

As grasshoppers.—The word indicates some insect of the locust tribe. The comparison may have been suggested by Num_13:33.

That stretcheth out the heavens.—A favourite phrase of 2 Isaiah (Isa_42:5, Isa_44:24, et al.), taken probably from Psa_104:2.

As a curtain . . . as a tent.—The words indicate a clearer perception of space than the older Hebrew word for the “firmament” of Gen_1:7. The visible heavens are thought of as a thin, filmy veil of gauze, the curtains of the tent of God.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22, 23. The majesty of the God who reveals Himself in Creation and Providence is described in interjectional participial clauses, the force of which should not be blunted by the superfluous “It is” of E.V.

upon (rather: above, R.V. marg.) the circle of the earth] i. e. the horizon, where earth and heaven meet (see Pro_8:27), “at the confines of light and darkness” (Job_26:10). The earth with its surrounding ocean is conceived as a flat disc, on which the arch of heaven comes down. The rendering “on the vault of the earth” (see Job_22:14, “vault of heaven,” the same word) is possible, though not so good.

and (so that) the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers] Comp. for the expression Num_13:33, and for the thought Psa_113:5 f.

as a curtain] like gauze (lit. fine cloth).

a tent to dwell in] i.e. simply “a habitable tent.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,.... Or, "the globe (z)" 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 the earth, which is the centre of them, and around which they are; and so it signifies, that the Lord sits or dwells in the heavens, from whence he beholds the children of men:

and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; or "locusts (a)"; as one upon a very great eminence looking down beholds creatures as exceeding small and little; and if the Israelites were to the "anakim" or giants as grasshoppers, Num 13:33, much more must puny mortals be such in the sight of God, and in comparison of him; and this may denote, not only the minuteness of men, but what weak, impotent, useless, worthless, and short lived creatures men are:

that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain; alluding to the firmament or expanse made at the creation, and still continued; which is as a curtain to himself, which he draws around himself, he dwelling in the highest heavens, and in light inaccessible to mortals; and which he stretches out as a canopy around this earth, for the use of the inhabitants of it: or, "as a little thing"; or, as a little skin (b); and which he stretches out as easily as a man can stretch out that:

and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in it; for himself to dwell in, and so stretches out the heavens like curtains about him; tents being made of such, and often of skins.

(z) "super sphaeram", Pagninus; "globum", Montanus Vatablus; "super orbem telluris", Vitringa. (a) "ut locustae", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Vitringa; "tanquam locustae", Munster; "velut locustae", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (b) "velut tenue", Montanus; "tenuissimum", Vatablus; "pellem." Munster; so some in Vatablus; "pellculam", Gataker.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

It is he that sitteth - Margin, ‘Him that sitteth,’ that is, have you not known him? The Hebrew literally means ‘the sitter, or he sitting on the circle of the each;’ and it may be connected either with Isa 40:21, ‘Have ye not known him sitting on the circle of the earth?’ or with Isa 40:18, ‘What likeness will ye compare to him that sitteth on the circle of the earth?’ In either case the phrase is designed to show the majesty and glory of God. The word ‘sitteth’ refers to God as a sovereign or monarch, making the circle of the earth his throne.

The circle of the earth - Or rather, “above” (על ‛al) the circle of the earth. The word rendered ‘circle’ (חוּג chûg) denotes “a circle, sphere, or arch”; and is applied to the arch or vault of the heavens, in Pro 8:27; Job 22:14. The phrase ‘circle,’ or ‘circuit of the earth,’ here seems to be used in the same sense as the phrase orbis terrarum by the Latins; not as denoting a sphere, or not as implying that the earth was a globe, but that it was an extended plain surrounded by oceans and mighty waters. The globular form of the earth was then unknown; and the idea is, that God sat above this extended circuit, or circle; and that the vast earth was beneath his feet.

And the inhabitants thereof are like grasshoppers - Or rather, like locusts, for so the Hebrew word properly means. This is designed to show that the inhabitants of the earth, numerous and mighty as they are, are as nothing compared with God. The idea is that God is so exalted, that, as he looks down from that elevated station, all the inhabitants of the world appear to him as locusts - a busy, agirated, moving, impatient multitude, spread over the vast circle of the earth beneath him - as locusts spread in almost interminable bands over the plains in the East. What a striking illustration of the insignificance of man as he is viewed from the heavens! What an impressive description of the nothingness of his mighty plans, and of the vanity of his mightiest works!

That stretcheth out the heavens - Referring to the firmament above, as that which seems to be stretched out, or expanded over our heads. The heavens above are often thus compared to an expanse - either solid Gen 1:7, or to a curtain, or tent (compare the note at Isa 34:4).

As a curtain - The word used here (דק doq) denotes properly fineness, thinness; and then a fine or thin cloth, or curtain. Here it means a thin canopy that is stretched over us. The same expression occurs in Psa 104:2 (compare Job 9:8; Isa 44:24). Probably the reference here is to the veil, curtain, or awning which the Orientals are accustomed to draw over the court in their houses. Their houses are constructed with an open court in the center, with the rooms ranged round it. In that court or open square there are usually fountains, if the situation is so that they can be constructed; and they are cool and refreshing places for the family to sit in the heat of the summer. In hot or rainy weather, a curtain or awning is drawn over this area. According to the imago of the prophet here, the heavens are spread out over our heads as such an awning.

And spreadeth them out as a tent - As a tent that is made for a habitation. Perhaps the idea is, that the heavens are extended like a tent in order to furnish a dwelling-place for God. Thus the Chaldee renders it. If so, it proves that the universe, so vast, was suited up to be the dwelling-place of the High and Holy One, and is a most impressive representation of his immensity.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Locusts, compared with the greatest animals. --- Nothing. Hebrew, "a curtain." Septuagint, Syriac, "vault, (Calmet) or chamber," Greek: kamaran.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

That sitteth, as a judge or governor upon his throne,

upon the circle of the earth; or, above the circle &c.; far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers. He alludes to one that looks down upon the earth below him from some high place. As here we have the circle of the earth, so elsewhere we read of the circle of heaven, Job 22:14, and of the circle of the deep, or sea, Pro 8:27, because the form of the heaven, and earth, and sea is circular and round, as is evident both from sense, and from the principles of philosophy.

As grasshoppers; small and contemptible in his sight. Compare Num 13:33.

Stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, for the benefit of the earth and of mankind, that all parts might partake of its comfortable influences. See Poole "Job 9:8"; See Poole "Psa 104:2".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. He that sitteth — This verse contains the fact that should have been known by all men. It is He alone that is enthroned above the vault of the earth, etc. In the old cosmogony of the Hebrews, the heaven was a circular arch which rested on the waters that surrounded the flat, round (not globular) earth.

Are as grasshoppers — The comparison is, as the weak locust is to man, so is weak man to God.

As a curtain — In Eastern houses the court is sometimes sheltered from heat by a veil of tent cloth, which may be folded and unfolded at pleasure by means of ropes from one side of the parapet wall to the other, and the image is thus furnished of God’s spreading out the veil of the heavens.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth; rather, above the vault of the earth; above the vault of sky which seems to arch over the earth. As grasshoppers; i.e. minute, scarcely visible. (comp. Num_13:33) That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain. So in Psa_104:2, only that here the "curtain" is represented as one of thin gauze. The idea is common to Isaiah with Job, (Job_9:8) Jeremiah, (Jer_10:12 Jer_51:15) and Zechariah, (Zec_12:1) and is a favourite one in these later chapters. (comp. Isa_42:5 Isa_44:24 Isa_45:12 Isa_51:13) As a tent. (comp. Psa_19:4, where God is said to have set in the heavens a "tabernacle, the word used here for the sun)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sitteth - Far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers. As here we have the circle of the earth, so elsewhere we read of the circle of heaven, Job xxii, 14, and of the circle of the deep, or sea, Prov. viii, 27, because the form of the heaven, and earth and sea is circular. Spreadeth - For the benefit of the earth and of mankind, that all parts might partake of its comfortable influences.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The prophet now proceeds to describe the God whom both His works and word proclaim. The participles which follow are predicates of the subject, which filled the consciousness of the prophet as well as that of every believer. "He who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants resemble grasshoppers; who has spread out the heavens like gauze, and stretched them out like a tent-roof to dwell in." He, the manifested and yet unknown, is He who has for His throne the circle of the heavens (chūg shâmayim, Job 22:14), which arches over the earth, and to whom from His inaccessible height men appear as diminutive as grasshoppers (Num 13:33); He who has spread out the blue sky like a thin transparent garment (dōq, a thin fabric, like daq, fine dust, in Isa 40:15), and stretched it out above the earth like a tent for dwelling in ('ōhel

(Note: The noun 'ōhel is derived from the root אל, from which come Arab. 'wl, coaluit, cohaesit, to thicken within or gain consistency (hence, regarded on another side, to lose in outward extent or outward bulk, to shrink; to go back to its original or essential condition; to issue in something as the final result; or generally, to draw back or return from a distance), and Arab. 'h', to attach one's self or accustom one's self to a person or thing, equivalent to alifa and anisa; to take up one's abode in a place, or absolutely, to commence housekeeping by marrying, like the Italian accasarsi, Turkish ewlenmek (from ew, a house); or, when applied to a place itself, to be habitable, inhabited, and cultivated (= pass. uhila, more especially in the participle âhil, = ‛âmir = ma‛mūr). (Hence ahl, one who belongs to a person or place, with its numerous applications, and also אהל, a tent (primarily a dwelling generally, Engl. abode), which stands at the end of this etymological series.)

lâshebheth). The participle brings to view the actions and circumstances of all times. In the present instance, where it is continued in the historical sense, it is to be resolved into the perfect; in other cases, the preservation of the world is evidently thought of as a creatio continua (see Psychol. P. 111).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

“The (one) sitting on (or over) the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants (are) as grasshoppers (or locusts); the one spreading like a veil (or awning) the heavens, and He stretches them out like the tent to dwell in.” The circle of the earth may either mean the earth itself, or the heavens by which it is surmounted and encompassed. The same comparison occurs in Num 13:33. It has been disputed whether the last words of the verse mean for Himself to dwell in, or for man to dwell in. But they really form part, not of the direct description, but of the comparison, like a tent pitched for dwelling in. With this verse compare Isa 42:5; Isa 44:24; Job 9:8; Psa 104:2.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

circle

A remarkable reference to the sphericity of the earth. See, also, Isa 42:5; Isa 44:24; Isa 51:13; Job 9:8; Psa 104:2; Jer 10:12.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the circle Heb. חוּג, an expression similar to (infra 44:13) “And with a compass (וּבַמְּחוּגָה),” a circle (compas in O.F.).

and whose inhabitants are to Him [lit. before Him] like grasshoppers.

like a curtain Heb. כַדֹּק, a curtain, toile in French.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

חוג Circle. Comp. מחוגה compass (44:13), the instrument, which is used to describe a circle.—Here it is stated that the earth is round and not square, though no verse is required for the support of this statement; for it is known by convincing proofs. He who sitteth upon the circle of the earth. He whose glory fills the whole earth.

כדוק As a curtain. Resembling the form of a tent.—The heavens mentioned here are not the Ofanim.

וימתחם And spreadeth them out,

as a tent to dwell under them.—The meaning of the whole passage is: The Lord is He who sitteth, etc.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.