Isaiah 40:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Just as it is utterly impossible for any human to measure all the waters with a mere handful, or to encompass the skies with a small coin, or to grasp the expanses of the earth with a single handful, no one is equipped to assess the depths of God’s mind. This is affirmed by the Lord Himself through one of His holy prophets: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8, 9). For when, the prophet asks, has He ever required guidance, or counsel, or one to reveal to Him truth, righteousness, or the path of understanding? If He is indeed the embodiment of wisdom, granting intelligence to all minds and illuminating the understanding of His creation, how could He possibly need another's insight, or in what manner could anyone give Him advice or reproach? These assertions by the prophet provide significant enlightenment to his audience. For some skeptics audaciously inquire about the necessity for the Word of God to become like us, to assume human flesh in all its frailty, and to redeem those on earth, when it posed no challenge for Him, as God, to fulfill His will by His divine power. Did He then come to be man for no reason? Through these misguided speculations, they misinterpret the profound design of salvation, thereby resisting the majesty of this mystery—the mystery of Christ. Consequently, the prophet counters their unreasonable and futile reasoning, declaring that divine wisdom is beyond comprehension and that God's intellect—if indeed He embodies wisdom—is the most exalted and purest form of understanding. Therefore, the utterances of the skeptics, who presumptuously claim that the Incarnation of the only-begotten Son of God was inappropriate, may seem strange, even ludicrous. Others interpret the phrases about measuring water with a handful and the heavens with a single footstep as emblematic of God’s omnipotence—He who can quantify the waters, the skies, the earth, the mountains, and the valleys. In short, He possesses awareness of all things, comprehending the incomprehensible and standing unparalleled amidst creation, regardless of its grandeur or multitude. Anyone who perceives this understanding of the prophet's message is indeed correct.

All nations, before Him, are as though they do not exist; they are counted as nothingness and emptiness in His sight. To counter any notion that the call of the nations is daunting, let it be known that all flesh has witnessed the salvation of God, commanded to ascend the high mountain, proclaiming good news to Zion, with the Lord Himself coming in strength to reward each according to their deeds. Like a shepherd, He comforts the lambs upon His breast, carrying those with young: His magnificence is unmistakable, for nothing is beyond His ability. He who has created all things can indeed perform what seems insignificant by comparison. When He speaks of a handful and a span, He employs familiar terms and measures of humanity so that we can understand the might of God through our own language. While the Septuagint states, "Who measured the waters with a hand?" or as we have translated, "Who measured the waters with a handful?" Aquila translates it as, "Who measured the waters with a very small finger?" This signifies that it is not with His whole hand but with His little finger, commonly known as the forefinger, that He measures all the vastness of the waters; an "inch," or σπιθαμή, represents the length from thumb to little finger. When we contract the hand, we form a handful: it is through this that we come to understand the heavens and the globe in their extent. In place of "a handful," as the Septuagint refers to the earth's volume, the Hebrew text uses "salis," which Simmachus translated as τριτον, and Aquila as τρίβωμον. For clarity, we translated it as "three fingers," to indicate that He weighs the earth and the heights of the mountains and hills as if with three small fingers and with a mere grain on scales—this points to the greatness of God and the power of the Creator. Who, He asks, has assisted the Spirit of the Lord, or who has served as His counselor? Simmachus rendered it: "Who prepared the Spirit of the Lord, and who guided Him?" With whom did He confer, who granted Him insight, led Him in the path of judgment, taught Him knowledge, and revealed to Him the way of wisdom? This indicates, with greater clarity, the preparation or affirmation of that Spirit, of whom the Apostle declares, "The Lord is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17), and "The Spirit of God rested upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding" (Is. 11:2), and who declares, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, and with it He anointed Me" (Is. 61:1). For He Himself is the Spirit of the Lord and His counselor, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:9). He is the Counselor referred to earlier (Is. 9:6), and it is written in Proverbs that God established the earth with wisdom, and prepared the heavens with understanding (Proverbs 3:19). The Septuagint’s question, "Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?" emphasizes that God’s mind, knowledge, and intelligence, through which all creation occurred, are what the Psalms proclaim: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the spirit of His mouth all their host" (Psalm 33:6). All nations that do not recognize their Creator, or the entirety of humanity compared to God, are likened to a drop from a bucket or a grain on the scales, tilting with only a small weight. Just as the bearer pays no mind to a single drop falling from a bucket, so the vast multitude of nations, in relation to the heavenly host and the multitude of angels, is acknowledged as nothing. Islands are considered mere spittle, or as Symmachus and Theodotion express, representing the very Hebrew term, as doc, which indicates what has fallen off, while Aquila translates it as λεπτο'ν βαλλόμενον. The Hebrews understand this term to refer to the smallest dust particles, so fine that when stirred up by a gust, they may fly into the eyes, being felt more than seen. Hence, this term refers to the smallest yet nearly invisible particles of dust, perhaps what Democritus called atoms. Various terms are interpreted differently in Greek due to translation complexities and the comparative poverty of both the Greek and Latin languages alongside Hebrew. Yet, in gradually turning people away from idolatry, He simultaneously dismantles sacrificial practices and teaches that all the trees of Lebanon and the livestock that graze thereon are not sufficient for His burnt offerings. If all nations before Him are as if they were nonexistent and counted as nothing and emptiness (and among those nations is Israel), then even Israel is regarded as nonexistent, counted as nothing and emptiness. This serves to humble prideful hearts, revealing that they share a commonality with all nations.

Because all creation gazes with unprecedented faith and boundless love upon the Life Giver and the bestower of grace and mercy. Scripture proclaims: The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in its season; You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing according to Your will (Ps 144:15-16).