Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Parallel translations
- WEB Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard, yet? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?
- BSB Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?
- NKJV Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
- NASB ¶Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
- NLT Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God— the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant?
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 rebukes his hearers for failing to grasp truths about God known from the very beginning.
Overview
A series of questions ('Haven't you known? Haven't you heard?') presses Israel to recognize what creation itself testifies about God's sovereignty. The knowledge of the Creator has been available from the foundations of the earth. Ignorance of God is therefore inexcusable, a theme Paul develops in Romans 1.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Acts 14:17Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
- Rom 1:19–21Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
- Isa 46:8Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.
- Isa 48:13Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
- Ps 50:6And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
- Rom 1:28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
- Ps 115:8They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
- Ps 19:1–5The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
- Isa 44:20He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
- Jer 10:8–12But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
- Rom 3:1–2What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
- Isa 51:13And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
- Isa 27:11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 40:21 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.