Isaiah 40:21 (ASV)

Passage

Have ye not known? have yet not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

Nearby Context

Isaiah 40:19 The image, a workman hath cast [it], and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth [for it] silver chains.

Isaiah 40:20 He that is too impoverished for [such] an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be moved.

Isaiah 40:21 Have ye not known? have yet not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

Isaiah 40:22 [It is] he that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;

Isaiah 40:23 that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "known", "heard", "hath", "been", "told", "beginning", "understood", and "foundations". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "known" and "heard", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "He that is too impoverished for such..." into verse 22's "It is he that sitteth above the...", so "known" and "heard" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "known" and "heard" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.