Isaiah 40:23

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.

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_40:23-24

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.)

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

40:23 great people: God is unimpressed by human power and fame.

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

(Psa 107:4; Dan 2:21).

judges--that is, rulers; for these exercised judicial authority (Psa 2:10). The Hebrew, shophtee, answers to the Carthaginian chief magistrates, suffetes.

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

(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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Searchers. Hebrew, "princes to nothing." (Protestants) --- Philosophers know nothing independently of God, nor can they subsist without him. (Worthington)

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 bringeth the princes to nothing; that can at his pleasure destroy all the great potentates of the world.

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

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.

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

The princes... the judges; rather, princes, judges. The entire class of such is meant, not any special individuals. (comp. Psa_107:40 Job_12:19-21) As vanity; or, as chaos the same word that is used in ver. 17.

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

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. Rōzenı̄m are solemn persons, σεμνοί, possessors of the greatest distinction and influence; shōphelı̄m, 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 tōhū 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. אף בּל (which only occurs here), when followed by וגם in the apodosis (cf., Kg2 20:4), signifies that even this has not yet taken place when the other also occurs: hence vixdum plantati sunt, etc. The niphal נטּע and the pual זרע denote the hopeful commencement; the poelשׁרשׁ 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 nâshaph is used in this verse, where plants with stems are referred to; a verb with a softer labial, nâshabh, 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 (נשׂא); compare, on the other hand, the verb used in Isa 40:15, viz., tūl = nâtal, to lift up, to keep in the air).

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) bringing (literally giving or putting) princes to nothing, the judges (or rulers) of the earth like emptiness (or desolation) He has made.” Not only nature but man, not only individuals but nations, not only nations but their rulers, are completely subject to the power of God.

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

He reduces

"Yahweh reduces"

They are barely planted ... and they wither

The prophet speaks of rulers being helpless before Yahweh as if they were new plants that wither away when a hot wind blows on them. (See: Metaphor)

They are barely planted, barely sown

These two phrases mean basically the same thing and refer to the point at which the plants or seeds are placed into the ground. They can be stated in active form. AT: "As soon as someone plants them ... as soon as someone sows them" (See: Parallelism and Active or Passive)

he blows upon them

The prophet speaks of Yahweh removing the rulers from power as if Yahweh were a scorching wind that blows upon the plants and causes them to wither. (See: Metaphor)

the wind carries them away like straw

This simile extends the metaphor of the rulers as plants and Yahweh as the wind that causes them to wither. The wind of Yahweh's judgement will remove the withered plants as easily as wind blows away straw. (See: Simile)

translationWords

rule

earth

plant

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

רוזנים Princes. Comp. רזון prince (Prov. 14:28); the adjective has various forms.

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.