Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Parallel translations
- WEB Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?
- BSB Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- NKJV Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is he?
- NASB Take no account of man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?
- NLT Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Isaiah urges them to stop trusting in frail, mortal man whose breath is fleeting. Human beings are no fit object of ultimate trust.
Overview
The reminder that man's life is but breath in his nostrils exposes the folly of relying on people. Set against the exalted LORD, human power counts for nothing. This redirects trust to God alone, the only sure foundation, fully revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 17:5Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
- Ps 146:3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
- Jas 4:14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
- Ps 144:3–4LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
- Ps 8:4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Gen 2:7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
- Isa 40:15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
- Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
- Gen 7:22All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
- Job 27:3All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
- Job 7:15–21So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 2:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.