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Isaiah 40:11-13
New English Translation
Isaiah 40:11-13
New English Translation
11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;
he gathers up the lambs with his arm;
he carries them close to his heart;[a]
he leads the ewes along.
The Lord is Incomparable
12 Who has measured out the waters[b] in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully[c] measured the sky,[d]
or carefully weighed[e] the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales?[f]
13 Who comprehends[g] the mind[h] of the Lord,
or gives him instruction as his counselor?[i]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:11 tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.
- Isaiah 40:12 tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.
- Isaiah 40:12 tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).
- Isaiah 40:12 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
- Isaiah 40:12 tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”
- Isaiah 40:12 sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is, “No one but the Lord.” The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.
- Isaiah 40:13 tn Perhaps the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “advises” (note the following line).
- Isaiah 40:13 tn In this context רוּחַ (ruakh) likely refers to the Lord’s “mind,” or mental faculties, rather than his personal Spirit (see BDB 925 s.v. 6).
- Isaiah 40:13 tn Heb “or [as] the man of his counsel causes him to know?”
New English Translation (NET)
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