Bible Strands
Isaiah 40:21
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel with a sequence of rhetorical questions immediately following the description of idol craftsmen. The moment marks a direct contrast between human limitation and divine authority.
The words — הֲלֹא (ha'lo) operates as a rhetorical "is it not?" that frames each clause, while מֵרֹאשׁ (merosh) literally means "from the beginning," anchoring the inquiry to primordial events.
The thread — The appeal to foundational knowledge and creative authority recurs in Isaiah 46:8 and Isaiah 48:13, where God commands remembrance of His sovereign acts, paralleling the cosmic declaration in Psalms 50:6.
Why it lands — The text requires acknowledgment of what has been declared since creation, demanding that understanding be grounded in divine revelation rather than human observation or craftsmanship.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Cross-references
- Psalms 50:6 And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah
- Isaiah 46:8 Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors!
- Isaiah 48:13 Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.
- Acts 14:17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
- Romans 1:19 For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
- Psalms 115:8 Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- Romans 1:28 Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Psalms 19:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
- Isaiah 27:11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
- Isaiah 44:20 He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”