Isaiah 40:17

17 All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

Isaiah 40:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 40:17

All nations before him are as nothing
As if they were nonentities, and were not real beings in comparison of him, who is the Being of beings, the author of all beings which exist in all nations; who are all in his sight, and are not only as grasshoppers, as is after mentioned, but even as nothing: and they are counted to him as less than nothing, and vanity;
if there is or could be such a thing less than nothing, that they are; and so they are accounted of by him; they are like the chaos out of which the earth was formed, when it was "tohu" and "bohu", the first of which words is used here; this serves to humble the pride of men, and to lessen the glory of the nations, and the inhabitants of them.

Isaiah 40:17 In-Context

15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.

17 All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

19 The image, a workman hath cast [it], and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth [for it] silver chains.