Isaiah 40:23 (ASV)

Passage

that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Nearby Context

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.

Isaiah 40:24 Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.

Isaiah 40:25 To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal [to him]? saith the Holy One.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "bringeth", "princes", "nothing", "maketh", "judges", "earth", and "vanity". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "bringeth" and "princes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "It is he that sitteth above the..." into verse 24's "Yea they have not been planted yea...", so "bringeth" and "princes" 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 "bringeth" and "princes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.