Yesaya 40:12-13

The Lord is Incomparable

40:12 Who has measured out the waters ¹  in the hollow of his hand,

or carefully ²  measured the sky, ³ 

or carefully weighed ⁴  the soil of the earth,

or weighed the mountains in a balance,

or the hills on scales? ⁵ 

40:13 Who comprehends ⁶  the mind ⁷  of the Lord,

or gives him instruction as his counselor? ⁸ 

[40:12]  ¹ tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.

[40:12]  ² tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).

[40:12]  ³ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[40:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”

[40:12]  ⁵ sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.

[40:13]  ⁶ tn Perhaps the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “advises” (note the following line).

[40:13]  ⁷ tn In this context רוּחַ (ruakh) likely refers to the Lord’s “mind,” or mental faculties, rather than his personal Spirit (see BDB 925 s.v.).

[40:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “or [as] the man of his counsel causes him to know?”