A Preliminary Translation of Isaiah 40:12-26 with Notes

Translation (I used HALOT where necessary):

40:12 Who measures with the hollow of his hand [the] water(s) and measures up the skies with the span [of his hand] and comprehends [the] dust of the earth with one-third* and weighs out with scales** the mountains and the hills with balances?

40:13 Who assesses*** the spirit of YHWH and lets a man know his advice?****

40:14 Together with whom does he consult, and [who?]***** will make him understand and will instruct him in [the] legal process (lit. 'path of a case') and will teach him knowledge and will let him know the way of understanding?

40:15 Behold, [the] people are like a speck from a bucket, and they are regarded as a layer of dust [on the] balances; behold, he will weigh the (distant) islands as a fine [thin covering].

40:16 Lebanon does not suffice for kindling [a fire?], and her animals do not suffice for a sacrifice which is wholly burned.

40:17 All the nations are as nothing in his opinion (lit. 'opposite to him'); they are regarded as from nothingness and nothing by+ him.

40:18 To whom shall you compare god, and what likeness will you compare him to?

40:19 A craftsman pours the divine image (from metal) and, smelting it with gold, will beat it out, and the bound-together things****** smelted with silver.

40:20 The one who sets up an image******* [of] wood [that] will not rot, he will choose; a skillful craftsman will find for himself [a way] to prepare a divine image; he will not be made to totter. [???????]

40:21 You (will) know, don't you? You have heard (will hear), haven't you? He has become known for your sake from the beginning: you have understood the foundations of the earth, have you not?

40:22 Sitting above [the] circle of the earth and those who inhabit it as locusts, spreading out [the] heavens as gauze,******** and he spreads them as a tent to be inhabited.

40:23 The one brings dignitaries to nothing, rulers of the earth he makes as nothing.

40:24 They have never yet been transplanted, never yet been sown, never yet has their shoot taken root in the earth; and he has also blown upon them, and they will whither, and a high wind will take them away as straw stubble.

40:25 And to whom shall you compare me that********* I am equal with (him or her)?" says the holy one.

40:26 Lift upward your eyes and see who created these? The one who bring out their numbered star[s]; for he appoints by name all of them; from the wealth of physical power and strong power, nobody is missing.

Notes:

* The Old Greek and the Vulgate suggest that the Hebrew word for "one-third" refers to another measurement taken by the hand.

** The Hebrew is singular, but the concept, I think, is plural.

*** I chose this translation because the exact same form of the word occurs in the previous verse. The proximity of these two occurences of the same word seems to suggest the meaning should be somewhat consistent, unless there is a play on words (and I don't think there is).

**** I know this differs from the English translations, but my translation reflects the use of the verb in the previous verse, where וְ plus a noun begins a verbal clause: וְשָׁמַ֙יִם֙ בַּזֶּ֣רֶת תִּכֵּ֔ן.

+ This is a lamed of relation (Juoun, 132f).

***** The interrogative particle with the preposition is not strictly parallel to the second verbal clause.

****** This is a hapax legomenon that presents some difficulty. I went with the Ugaritic slant.

******* The meaning of this phrase is elusive. Here I follow the Old Greek.

******** The meaning of this word is elusive (a hapax).

********* The vav expresses subordination here (see ad loc. HALOT 21).