Isaiah 40:17

 Isaiah 40:17

All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

a. NASB 2020:  All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.  [NASB20] New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. YLT: All the nations are as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.   [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. The Milstein Edition, Later Prophets, Isaiah. With Rabbinic Commentary: All the nations are like nothing before Him; as nothingness and emptiness are they reckoned by Him.  [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES\MILSTEIN EDITION THE LATTER PROPHETS, ISAIAH Ⓒ Copyright 2013 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

1. “All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”

a. All [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

b. nations [Strong: 1471 gôwy, go'-ee; rarely (shortened) גֹּי gôy; apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:—Gentile, heathen, nation, people.]

c. before [him] [Strong: 5048 neged, neh'-ghed; from H5046; a front, i.e. part opposite; specifically a counterpart, or mate; usually (adverbial, especially with preposition) over against or before:—about, (over) against, × aloof, × far (off), × from, over, presence, × other side, sight, × to view.]

d. [are as] nothing [Strong: 369 ʼayin, ah'-yin; as if from a primitive root meaning to be nothing or not exist; a nonentity; generally used as a negative particle:—else, except, fail, (father-) less, be gone, in(-curable), neither, never, no (where), none, nor, (any, thing), not, nothing, to nought, past, un(-searchable), well-nigh, without.]

e. [and they are] counted [to him] [Strong: 2803 châshab, khaw-shab'; a primitive root; properly, to plait or interpenetrate, i.e. (literally) to weave or (generally) to fabricate; figuratively, to plot or contrive (usually in a malicious sense); hence (from the mental effort) to think, regard, value, compute:—(make) account (of), conceive, consider, count, cunning (man, work, workman), devise, esteem, find out, forecast, hold, imagine, impute, invent, be like, mean, purpose, reckon(-ing be made), regard, think.]

f. [less than] nothing [Strong: 657 ʼepheç, eh'-fes; from H656; (sometimes like H6466) cessation, i.e. an end (especially of the earth); often used adverb, no further; also the ankle (in the dual), as being the extremity of the leg or foot:—ankle, but (only), end, howbeit, less than nothing, nevertheless (where), no, none (beside), not (any, -withstanding), thing of nought, save(-ing), there, uttermost part, want, without (cause).]

g. [and] vanity [Strong: 8414 tôhûw, to'-hoo; from an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), i.e. desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain:—confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.]