Isaiah 41:28

When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among them; when I ask them, they have nothing to say.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God addresses Zion and Jerusalem, declaring the total failure of their consulted idols and false advisors. He makes this statement immediately after announcing the arrival of a herald of good news for the city.

The words — The Hebrew יוֹעֵ֑ץ (yo'etz) translates literally as "counselor," while יָשִׁ֥יבוּ (yashivu) means "they may bring back" or reply. These terms mark the precise absence of guidance and the silence of false gods when directly questioned.

The thread — This pattern of divine search and human silence appears in Isaiah 63:5, Isaiah 40:13, and Isaiah 50:2. Each passage contrasts God's solitary action or unmatched wisdom with the inability of others to assist or advise.

Why it lands — The text requires acknowledgment that consultation of false sources yields no answers when tested. It demands the reader abandon reliance on empty counsel and recognize God's exclusive capacity to guide and respond.

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

וְאֵ֙רֶא֙ve./'E.re'and/ [when] I may look וְאֵ֣יןve./'Einand/ there not אִ֔ישׁ'Ish[is] a person וּמֵאֵ֖לֶּהu./me./'E.lehand/ from/ these וְאֵ֣יןve./'Einand/ there not יוֹעֵ֑ץyo.'Etz[is] a counselor וְאֶשְׁאָלֵ֖םve./'esh.'a.Le/mand/ I will ask/ them וְיָשִׁ֥יבוּve./ya.Shi.vuand/ they may bring back דָבָֽר׃da.Vara word

King James Version

For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

Cross-references

Isaiah 63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled that no one assisted. So My arm brought Me salvation, and My own wrath upheld Me.
Isaiah 40:13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor?
Isaiah 50:2 Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.
Isaiah 59:16 He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.
Daniel 2:10 The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.
Daniel 4:7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.
Daniel 5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or interpret it for him.