Isaiah 40:22 (YLT)

Passage

He who is sitting on the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants <FI>are<Fi> as grasshoppers, He who is stretching out as a thin thing the heavens, And spreadeth them as a tent to dwell in.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 40:20 He who is poor <FI>by<Fi> heave-offerings, A tree not rotten doth choose, A skilful artisan he seeketh for it, To establish a graven image--not moved.

Isaiah 40:21 Do ye not know--do ye not hear? Hath it not been declared from the first to you? Have ye not understood <FI>From<Fi> the foundations of the earth?

Isaiah 40:22 He who is sitting on the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants <FI>are<Fi> as grasshoppers, He who is stretching out as a thin thing the heavens, And spreadeth them as a tent to dwell in.

Isaiah 40:23 He who is making princes become nothing, Judges of earth as emptiness hath made;

Isaiah 40:24 Yea, they have not been planted, Yea, they have not been sown, Yea, not taking root in the earth is their stock, And also He hath blown upon them, and they wither, And a whirlwind as stubble taketh them away.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sitting", "circle", "earth", "inhabitants", "grasshoppers", "stretching", "thin", and "heavens". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sitting" and "circle", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "Do ye not know--do ye not hear..." into verse 23's "He who is making princes become nothing...", so "sitting" and "circle" 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 "sitting" and "circle" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.