Isaiah 40:24 (ASV)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

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.

Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "been", "planted", "sown", "stock", "hath", "taken", and "root". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "been" and "planted", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "that bringeth princes to nothing that maketh..." into verse 25's "To whom then will ye liken me...", so "been" and "planted" 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 "been" and "planted" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.