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New Century Version

Isaiah 40:24

They are like plants that are placed in the ground, like seeds that are planted. As soon as they begin to grow strong, he blows on them and they die, and the wind blows them away like chaff.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God Continued...;   Idolatry;   Life;   Readings, Select;   Stubble;   Thompson Chain Reference - Meteorology;   Righteous-Wicked;   Whirlwind;   Wicked, the;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Whirlwind;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Image;   Isaiah;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Ten Commandments;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Shepherd;   Holman Bible Dictionary - God;   Isaiah;   Providence;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Micah, Book of;   Righteousness;   Servant of the Lord;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Omnipotence;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Whirlwind;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Root;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Blow;   Stock;   Whirlwind;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Shabbat Naḥamu;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for November 15;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They are barely planted, barely sown,their stem hardly takes root in the groundwhen he blows on them and they wither,and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.
Hebrew Names Version
Yes, they have not been planted; yes, they have not been sown; yes, their stock has not taken root in the eretz: moreover he blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
King James Version
Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
English Standard Version
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
New American Standard Bible
Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.
Amplified Bible
Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And a strong wind carries them away like stubble.
World English Bible
Yes, they have not been planted; yes, they have not been sown; yes, their stock has not taken root in the earth: moreover he blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
Geneva Bible (1587)
As though they were not plated, as though they were not sowen, as though their stocke tooke no roote in the earth: for he did euen blow vpon them, and they withered, and the whirlewinde will take them away as stubble.
Legacy Standard Bible
Scarcely have they been planted;Scarcely have they been sown;Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,But He merely blows on them, and they wither,And the storm carries them away like stubble.
Berean Standard Bible
No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
Contemporary English Version
They are like flowers freshly sprung up and starting to grow. But when God blows on them, they wilt and are carried off like straw in a storm.
Complete Jewish Bible
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely their stem taken root in the ground, when he blows on them, they dry up, and the whirlwind carries them off like straw.
Darby Translation
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely hath their stock taken root in the earth, but he also bloweth upon them and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
Easy-to-Read Version
They are like plants that are planted in the ground. But before they can send their roots into the ground, God blows on the "plants"; they become dead and dry, and the wind blows them away like straw.
George Lamsa Translation
Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown; yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth; and he shall blow upon them and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
Good News Translation
They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the Lord sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw.
Lexham English Bible
Indeed, hardly are they planted; indeed, hardly are they sown; indeed, hardly has their shoot taken root in the earth when he blows on them and they wither, and the tempest carries them like stubble.
Literal Translation
Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they are not sown; yea, their stem is not taking root in the earth. And He shall also blow on them, and they shall wither, and the tempest shall lift them up like stubble.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
so that they be not planted nor sowen agayne, nether their stocke rooted agayne in the earth? For as soone as he bloweth vpon them, they wither & fade awaye, like the strawe in a whirle wynde.
American Standard Version
Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
Bible in Basic English
They have only now been planted, and their seed put into the earth, and they have only now taken root, when he sends out his breath over them and they become dry, and the storm-wind takes them away like dry grass.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Scarce are they planted, scarce are they sown, scarce hath their stock taken root in the earth; when He bloweth upon them, they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
King James Version (1611)
Yea they shal not be planted, yea they shall not be sowen, yea their stocke shall not take roote in the earth: and he shall also blow vpon them, & they shall wither, and the whirlewinde shall take them away as stubble.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
So that of them it may be sayde, they be not planted nor sowne agayne, neither their stocke rooted agayne in the earth: for assoone as he bloweth vpon them, they wither and fade away lyke the strawe in a whirle winde.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For they shall not plant, neither shall they sow, neither shall their root be fixed in the ground: he has blown upon them, and they are withered, and a storm shall carry them away like sticks.
English Revised Version
Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And sotheli whanne the stok of hem is nether plauntid, nether is sowun, nether is rootid in erthe, he bleew sudenli on hem, and thei drieden vp, and a whirle wynd schal take hem awei as stobil.
Update Bible Version
Yes, they have not been planted; yes, they have not been sown; yes, their stock has not taken root in the earth: moreover he blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
Webster's Bible Translation
Yes, they shall not be planted; yes, they shall not be sown: yes, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
New English Translation
Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.
New King James Version
Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
New Living Translation
They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff.
New Life Bible
They have just been planted, and have begun to take root in the earth. But He only blows on them and they dry up, and the storm carries them away like dry grass.
New Revised Standard
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely hath their stock, begun to take root in the earth, When he hath just blown upon them and they have withered, And, a whirlwind, as though they haft been chaff, carrieth them away.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the earth: suddenly he hath blown upon them, and they are withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
Revised Standard Version
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
Young's Literal Translation
Yea, they have not been planted, Yea, they have not been sown, Yea, not taking root in the earth is their stock, And also He hath blown upon them, and they wither, And a whirlwind as stubble taketh them away.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.

Contextual Overview

18 Can you compare God to anything? Can you compare him to an image of anything? 19 An idol is formed by a craftsman, and a goldsmith covers it with gold and makes silver chains for it. 20 A poor person cannot buy those expensive statues, so he finds a tree that will not rot. Then he finds a skilled craftsman to make it into an idol that will not fall over. 21 Surely you know. Surely you have heard. Surely from the beginning someone told you. Surely you understand how the earth was created. 22 God sits on his throne above the circle of the earth, and compared to him, people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the skies like a piece of cloth and spreads them out like a tent to sit under. 23 He makes rulers unimportant and the judges of this world worth nothing. 24 They are like plants that are placed in the ground, like seeds that are planted. As soon as they begin to grow strong, he blows on them and they die, and the wind blows them away like chaff. 25 God, the Holy One, says, "Can you compare me to anyone? Is anyone equal to me?" 26 Look up to the skies. Who created all these stars? He leads out the army of heaven one by one and calls all the stars by name. Because he is strong and powerful, not one of them is missing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

they shall not be planted: Isaiah 14:21, Isaiah 14:22, Isaiah 17:11, 1 Kings 21:21, 1 Kings 21:22, 2 Kings 10:11, Job 15:30-33, Job 18:16-19, Jeremiah 22:30, Nahum 1:14

he shall also: Isaiah 40:7, Isaiah 11:4, Isaiah 30:33, Isaiah 37:7, 2 Samuel 22:16, Job 4:9, Haggai 1:9

and the: Isaiah 17:13, Isaiah 41:16, Job 21:18, Psalms 58:9, Proverbs 1:27, Jeremiah 23:19, Hosea 13:3, Hosea 13:15, Zechariah 7:14, Zechariah 9:14

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 14:16 - he shall give Israel Job 8:17 - roots Psalms 83:13 - as the Proverbs 10:25 - the whirlwind Isaiah 41:2 - as driven Isaiah 47:14 - they shall Isaiah 57:13 - but the Hosea 9:16 - their root Malachi 4:1 - and all the Mark 11:20 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Yea, they shall not be planted,.... As trees are, like the cedars in Lebanon, though they may seem to be such; but be like the grass of the field, and herbs of the earth: or, "even they shall be", as if they were "not planted c", they shall not grow and flourish; or they shall be plucked up, and be no more; this is said of the princes and judges of the earth; nay,

they shall not be sown; as seed is, which springing up, brings forth fruit, but so it shall not be with them; or they shall be as if they had not been sown, no fruit being brought forth by them:

yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth; so as to continue and abide, but they shall soon vanish and disappear, as the most powerful princes and wisest judges do. The Targum is,

"although they multiply, although they increase, although their children become great in the earth:''

"and" or "yea",

he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither; as grass withers, when a severe wind blows upon it:

and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble; which is not able to stand before the force of it; and as unable are the greatest potentates on earth to stand before the tempest of divine wrath and vengeance; if God blows but upon them in anger, all their glory and grandeur, pomp and power, wither away like the flower of the field; and especially if he comes forth in all the fury of his wrath in a tempestuous way against them, they are no more able to stand before him that stubble before a violent storm: see Revelation 6:15. The Targum is,

"yet, even he will send his fury upon them; and his word shall take them away, as a whirlwind stubble.''

c אף בל נטעו "perinde ut non plantati", Calvin; and so the following clauses.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Yea, they shall not be planted - The kings and rulers - especially they who oppose God in the execution of his purposes. The idea in this verse is, that their name and family should become extinct in the same way as a tree does from which no shoot starts up. Although they were great and mighty, like the tree that sends out far-spreading branches, and strikes its roots deep, yet God would so utterly destroy them that they should have no posterity, and their family become extinct. Princes and kings are often compared to lofty and majestic trees of the forest (compare Psalms 37:35; Daniel 4:7 ff) Vitringa supposes that wicked rulers are particularly intended here, and that the idea is, that the wicked princes that persecuted his people should be entirely extinct on the earth. He refers particularly to Pharaoh, Antiochus Epiphanes, Nero, Domitian, Decius, Gallus, Galerius, Maxenus, Maximus, and some others, as instances of this kind, whose families soon became extinct. It may be remarked, in general, that the families of monarchs and princes become extinct usually much sooner than others. The fact may be owing in part to the usual luxury and vice in the families of the great, and in part to the direct arrangements of God, by which he designs that power shall not be forever perpetuated in one family, or line. The general idea in the passage is, that earthly princes and rulers are as nothing When compared with God, and that he can easily destroy their families and their name. But there is no improbability in the supposition of Vitringa, that the prophet refers particularly to the enemies of God and his cause, and that he intends specifically to affirm that none of these enemies could prevent or embarrass the execution of his purposes - since with infinite ease he could entirely destroy their name.

They shall not be sown - The same idea under another figure. The former referred to princes under the image of a tree; this refers to them under the image of grain that is sown. The idea is, that their family and name should be annihilated, and should not spring up in a future generation. The same image occurs in Nahum 1:14, in respect to the king of Assyria: ‘The Lord hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown;’ that is, that thy name and family should become entirely extinct.

Yea, their stock - Their stem - referring to the stump or stock of a tree. When a tree is cut down, the roots often still live, and send up shoots, or suckers, that grow into trees. Posterity is often, in the Scriptures, compared to such suckers or shoots from old and decayed trees (see the notes at Isaiah 11:1). The meaning here is, that as when a tree falls and dies without sending up any shoots, so princes should die. They should have no descendants; no one of their family should sit on their thrones.

Shall blow upon them - As God sends a tempest upon the forest and uproots the loftiest trees, so he will sweep away the families of princes. Or rather, perhaps, the idea here is, that God sends a strong and burning east wind, and withers up everything before it (see this wind described in the notes at Isaiah 37:26).

And they shall wither - Trees, and shrubs, and plants are dried up before that poisonous and fiery wind - the simoom - and so it would be with the princes before the blast of Yahweh.

And the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble - This, in its literal signification, means that the whirlwind bears away the trees of the forest, and with the same ease God would sweep away the families of the kings and princes that opposed him and oppressed his people. It may illustrate this to observe, that the effects of whirlwinds in the East are often much more violent than they are with us, and that they often bear away to a great distance the branches of trees, and even the trees themselves. The following description of a whirlwind observed by Mr. Bruce, may serve to illustrate this passage, as well as the passage in Psalms 83:13 :

O my God, make them like a wheel;

As the stubble before the wind,

referring to the rotary action of the whirlwind, which often impels straw like a wheel set in rapid motion. ‘Mr. Bruce, in his journey through the desert of Senaar, had the singular felicity to contemplate this wonderful phenomenon in all its terrific majesty, without injury, although with considerable danger and alarm. In that vast expanse of desert, from west and to northwest of him, he saw a number of prodigious pillars of sand at different distances, moving, at times, with great celerity, at others, stalking on with majestic slowness; at intervals he thought they were coming, in a very few minutes, to overwhelm him and his companion. Again, they would retreat so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds. There, the tops often separated from the bodies; and these, once disjoined, dispersed in the air, and appeared no more. Sometimes they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon-shot.

About noon, they began to advance with considerable swiftness upon them, the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of these awful visitors ranged alongside of them, about the distance of three miles. The greatest diameter of the largest appeared to him, at that distance, as if it would measure ten feet. They retired from them with a wind at southeast, leaving an impression upon the mind of our intrepid traveler, to which he could give no name, though he candidly admits that one ingredient in it was fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and astonishment. He declares it was in vain to think of flying; the swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be of no use to carry them out of this danger; and the full persuasion of this riveted him to the spot where he stood. Next day, they were gratified with a similar display of moving pillars, in form and disposition like those already described, only they seemed to be more in number and less in size.

They came, several times, in a direction close upon them; that is, according to Mr. Bruce’s computation, within less than two miles. They became, immediately after sunrise, like a thick wood, and almost darkened the sun; his rays shining through them for near an hour, gave them an appearance of pillars of fire. At another time, they were terrified by an army (as it seemed) of these sand pillars, whose march was constantly south, a number of which seemed once to be coming directly upon them; and though they were little nearer than two miles, a considerable quantity of sand fell around them. On the 21st of November, about eight in the morning, he had a view of the desert to the westward, as before, and the sands had already begun to rise in immense twisted pillars, which darkened the heavens, and moved over the desert with more magnificence than ever. The sun, shining through the pillars, which were thicker, and contained more sand, apparently, than on any of the preceding days, seemed to give those nearest them an appearance as if spotted with stars of gold.’ (Paxton)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 40:24. And he shall also blow upon them - "And if he but blow upon them"] The Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and MS. Bodl., with another, have גם gam, only, without the conjunction ו vau, and.


 
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