Isaiah 2:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

NIV: Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?

NASB: Take no account of man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?

CSB: Put no more trust in a mere human, who has only the breath in his nostrils. What is he really worth?

NLT: Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?

KJV: Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

NKJV: Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is he?

Isaiah concludes chapter two with a warning for those wise enough to hear it. The lesson is to stop trusting in mere human beings to save you. They may be wealthy and seemingly secure for the moment, but it's foolish to follow their path of destruction through worshipping idols (Isaiah 2:8),visiting soothsayers, and making deals with foreign governments (Isaiah 2:6). At the end of the day, human beings are always just one breath away from death (James 4:14). The day of the Lord will come, and those who have not trusted in Him will be destroyed (Ezekiel 30:3; Obadiah 1:15; Acts 2:20; 2 Peter 3:10). Seemingly important peoples' power will be revealed as a fleeting moment of arrogance and not a plan for success.

The crucial, overall message of this passage is the need to trust God, not human beings. His power is genuine and eternal (Romans 1:18–21; 1 Timothy 6:15–16).

Isaiah 2:6–22 begins with stunning words: the Lord has "rejected" His people Israel. Instead of trusting Him, they worship false idols and practice fortune-telling. They believe these things and their deal-making have brought them wealth and security. The day of the Lord, though, will result in the abandonment of their homemade idols. He will bring low every great thing they trust instead of the Lord. The people will try to escape the Lord's majesty in the darkness of caves as He terrifies the earth. Isaiah finishes this section with telling His people to stop esteeming human beings.

Isaiah describes Israel's far future as a time when all the nations of the earth will recognize Israel's God as the Lord. They will come to Jerusalem to learn from Him how to live. Isaiah tells his people to walk in the light of the Lord now. Instead, they worship false gods, follow fortune tellers, and make deals. Their great wealth, military might, and endless homemade idols will not save them from the God's judgment on day of the Lord. Human arrogance will be brought low as the Lord is exalted. Isaiah summarizes the chapter with a warning not to trust fallible people, instead of God.

Isaiah 2 follows the summation of the first chapter by reintroducing the prophet. He describes Israel's distant future. Someday, all the people of earth will come to Jerusalem to learn how to live from Israel's God. For now, though, the Lord has rejected His people. On the day of the Lord, however, those idols will be left behind in the caves in which the people attempt to hide from God's majesty. Later chapters of this book will explain more about how this prophecy will come to be.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).

Accessed 5/3/2024 2:28:58 PM