Isaiah 40:24

WEB

They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

KJV

Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

Commentary

Yea, they shall not be planted,.... As trees are, like the cedars in Lebanon, though they may seem to be such; but be like the grass of the field, and herbs of the earth: or, "even they shall be", as if they were "not planted (c)", they shall not grow and flourish; or they shall be plucked up, and be no more; this is said of the princes and judges of the earth; nay, they shall not be sown; as seed is, which springing up, brings forth fruit, but so it shall not be with them; or they shall be as if they had not been sown, no fruit being brought forth by them: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth; so as to continue and abide, but they shall soon vanish and disappear, as the most powerful princes and wisest judges do. The Targum is, "although they multiply, although they increase, although their children become great in the earth:'' "and" or "yea", he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither; as grass withers, when a severe wind blows upon it: and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble; which is not able to stand before the force of it; and as unable are the greatest potentates on earth to stand before the tempest of divine wrath and vengeance; if God blows but upon them in anger, all their glory and grandeur, pomp and power, wither away like the flower of the field; and especially if he comes forth in all the fury of his wrath in a tempestuous way against them, they are no more able to stand before him that stubble before a violent storm: see Rev 6:15 . The Targum is, "yet, even he will send his fury upon them; and his word shall take them away, as a whirlwind stubble.'' (c) "perinde ut non plantati", Calvin; and so the following clauses.