Isaiah 40:21 (WEB)

Passage

Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?

Nearby Context

Isaiah 40:19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.

Isaiah 40:20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.

Isaiah 40:21 Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?

Isaiah 40:22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;

Isaiah 40:23 who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "He who is too impoverished for such..." into verse 22's "It is he who sits above the...", so "haven" and "known" 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 "haven" and "known" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.