Isaiah 41:24

Isa 41:24 Behold, ye [are] of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination [is he that] chooseth you.

Ver. 24. Behold, ye are of nothing.] Hence Paul took that assertion of his; {1Co 8:4} "we know that an idol is nothing in the world." For the matter of it, it is true, wood is wood, and stone is stone; but the relation and signification which is fastened thereunto, is nothing at all: all the being of an idol is nothing but the idolater’s imagination.

And your work of nought.] Or, Of the basilisk or viper; it will do you to death.

An abomination is he that curseth you.] Papists, therefore, must needs be abominable idolaters. Dr Rainolds’s work, De Idololatria Romana, is yet unanswered. Weston writes that his head ached in reading it.

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.

So that a man cannot make an idol, but he must do that which God detesteth and abhoreth: for he chooseth his own devices and forsaketh the Lord’s.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

of nothing--(See on Isa 40:17). The Hebrew text is here corrupt; so English Version treats it.

abomination--abstract for concrete: not merely abominable, but the essence of whatever is so (Deu 18:12).

chooseth you--as an object of worship.

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 24. Your work of naught - "Your operation is less than naught"] For מאפע meepha, read מאפס meephes; so the Chaldee and Vulgate. A manifest error of the text; compare Isa 40:17. The rabbins acknowledge no such error, but say that the former word signifies the same with the latter, by a change of the two letters ס samech and ע ain. - Sal. ben Melec in loc.

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

(24) Behold, ye are of nothing.—This is the summing up of the prophet, speaking as in the Judge’s name. The idol was “nothing in the world” (1Co_8:4). The demonic view of the gods of the heathen does not appear, as in St. Paul’s argument (1Co_10:20), side by side with that of their nothingness.

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

24. The silence of the idols settles the controversy.

of nothing … of nought] See on ch. Isa_40:17. The word ’épha‘ here is probably a copyist’s error for ’épheṣ.

he that chooseth you]—your worshipper.

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.

Behold, ye are of nothing,.... Not as to the matter of them, for they were made of gold, silver, brass, &c. but as to the divinity of them: there was none in them, they were of no worth and value; they could do nothing, either good or evil, either help their friends, or hurt their enemies; yea, they were less than nothing; for the words may be rendered by way of comparison, "behold, ye are less than nothing"; (a). See Gill on Isa 40:17;

and your work of nought; the workmanship bestowed on them, in casting or carving them, was all to no purpose, and answered no end; or the work they did, or pretended to do, their feigned oracles, and false predictions: or, "worse than nothing": some render it, "worse than a viper" (b); a word like this is used for one, Isa 49:5 and so denotes the poisonous and pernicious effects of idolatry:

an abomination is he that chooseth you; as the object of his worship; he is not only abominable, but an abomination itself to God, and to all men of sense and religion; for the choice he makes of an idol to be his god shows him to be a man void of common sense and reason, and destitute of all true religion and godliness, and must be a stupid sottish creature. The Targum is,

"an abomination is that which ye have chosen for yourselves, or in which ye delight;''

meaning their idols. This is the final issue of the controversy, and the judgment passed both upon the idols and their worshippers.

(a) "vos minus quam nihil estis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (b) "pejus opere viperae", Junius & Tremellius; "pejus est opere basilisci", Piscator.

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

Behold, ye are of nothing - Margin, ‘Worse than nothing.’ This refers to idols; and the idea is, that they were utterly vain and powerless; they were as unable to render aid to their worshippers as absolute nothingness would be, and all their confidence in them was vain and foolish.

And your work - All that you do, or all that it is pretended that you do.

Of nought - Margin, ‘Worse than a viper.’ The word used here in the common Hebrew text (אפע 'epa‛) occurs in no other place. Gesenius supposes that this is a corrupt reading for אפס 'epes (nothing), and so our translators have regarded it, and in this opinion most expositors agree. Hahn has adopted this reading in his Hebrew Bible. The Jewish rabbis suppose generally that the word אפע 'epa‛ is the same word as אפעה 'eph‛eh, a viper, according to the reading in the margin. But this interpretation is contrary to the connection, as well as the ancient versions. The Vulgate and Chaldee render it, ‘Of nought.’ The Syriac renders it, ‘Your works are of the sword.’ This is probably one of the few instances in which there has been a corruption of the Hebrew text (compare Isa 40:17; Isa 41:12, Isa 41:19).

An abomination is he that chooseth you - They who select idols as the object of worship, and offer to them homage, are regarded as abominable by God.

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

Work. All that you can do or promise. Hebrew, "your work is worse than a viper."

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).

Ye are of nothing; you lately were nothing, without any being at all, and now you have nothing at all of divinity or virtue in you.

Your work; either,

1. Passively, your workmanship, all the cost and art which is laid out upon you. Or,

2. Actively, all that you can do. Your operations are like your beings; there is no reality in your beings, nor efficacy in your actions.

He that chooseth you; he that chooseth you for his gods, is most abominable for his folly as well as his wickedness.

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

24. Behold, ye are of nothing — Hebrew, worse than nothing.

And your work of naught — Hebrew, worse than a viper. If this be the true reading, they are not only worse than nothing but their work is venomous. Let us leave it so, rather than tinker with the text to make it mean (as Gesenius and others) something else. Idol adherents are venomous in their arts, and so they are an abomination.

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

A pause may be supposed between vers. 23 and 24, during which the idol-gods are given the opportunity of "bringing, forth their strong reasons," and, in one way or other, proving their Divinity. But they are stricken dumb; they say nothing. Accordingly, "judgment goes against them by default" (Cheyne), and Jehovah breaks out upon them with words of contempt and contumely, Behold, ye are of nothing, etc. "Ye are utterly vain and futile."

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

Your work - Your operations are like your beings: there is no reality in your beings, nor efficacy in your actions.

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

Jehovah has thus placed Himself in opposition to the heathen and their gods, as the God of history and prophecy. It now remains to be seen whether the idols will speak, to prove their deity. By no means; not only are they silent, but they cannot speak. Therefore Jehovah breaks out into words of wrath and contempt. "Behold, ye are of nothing, and your doing of nought: an abomination whoever chooseth you." The two מן are partitive, as in Isa 40:17; and מאפע is not an error of the pen for מאפס, as Gesenius and others suppose, but אפע from עפע = פּה (from which comes פּה), פּעה, Isa 42:14 (from which comes אפעה, Isa 59:5), to breathe, stands as a synonym to און, הבל, רוח. The attributive clause בּכם יבחר (supply אשׁר חוּא) is a virtual subject (Ewald, 333, b): ye and your doings are equally nil; and whoever chooses you for protectors, and makes you the objects of his worship, is morally the most degraded of beings.

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.)

“Lo, ye are of nothing (or less than nothing) and your work of nought (or less than nought); an abomination (is he that) chooseth (or will choose) you.” This is the conclusion drawn from their failure or refusal to accept the challenge and to furnish the required proof of their deity. Abomination is a strong expression often used to describe an object of religious abhorrence. On the choosing of gods, compare Jdg 5:8.

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

Behold you are of naught and how will your words be fulfilled.

and your deed is one of shouting Heb. מֵאָפַע. You shout and raise your voice only to mislead the people with lies.

the abominable one Heb. תּוֹעֵבָה [lit. an abomination.] The abominable ones select you, and not the Holy One, blessed be He, or His servants or His ministers.

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.

Ye. The idols are adressed.

מאפע of nothing. It is hap. leg.

תועבה=איש תועבה "An abominable man," or it is the same as תועבה "for an abomination." יבחר בכם Chooseth you, for worship.

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.