Isaia 40:17

17 Tutte le nazioni son come nulla dinanzi a lui; ei le reputa meno che nulla, una vanità.

Isaia 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.

Isaia 40:17 In-Context

15 Ecco, le nazioni sono, agli occhi suoi, come una gocciola della secchia, come la polvere minuta delle bilance; ecco, le isole son come pulviscolo che vola.

16 Il libano non basterebbe a procurar il fuoco, e i suoi animali non basterebbero per l’olocausto.

17 Tutte le nazioni son come nulla dinanzi a lui; ei le reputa meno che nulla, una vanità.

18 A chi vorreste voi assomigliare Iddio? e con quale immagine lo rappresentereste?

19 Un artista fonde l’idolo, l’orafo lo ricopre d’oro e vi salda delle catenelle d’argento.