who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
Parallel translations
- WEB who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless.
- KJV That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
- BSB He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.
- NKJV He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.
- NASB It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
- NLT He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
God reduces princes to nothing and renders the world's rulers meaningless.
Overview
The Sovereign who sits above the earth holds absolute power over its rulers, bringing the mighty to nothing. No human authority is secure apart from Him. This assures God's people that oppressive powers will not stand against His purposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 12:21He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the strong.
- Ps 107:40He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
- Jer 25:18–27Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is today;
- Isa 34:12They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.
- Isa 19:13–14The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the cornerstone of her tribes.
- Isa 23:9Yahweh of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
- Job 34:19–20Who doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respects the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.
- Luke 1:51–52He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
- Ps 76:12He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.
- Isa 24:21–22It shall happen in that day that Yahweh will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.
- Rev 19:18–20that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, and small and great.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 40:23 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.