Isaiah 55:9

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
heavens	שָׁמַ֖יִם sha.Ma.yim	H8064	the sky (as aloft · noun, common masculine plural absolute
higher	גָבְה֥וּ ga.ve.Hu	H1361	to soar · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
earth	מֵאָ֑רֶץ me.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
ways	דְרָכַי֙ de.ra.Khai	H1870	a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders plural construct + pronominal suffix
higher	גָּבְה֤וּ ga.ve.Hu	H1361	to soar · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
ways	מִדַּרְכֵיכֶ֔ם mi.dar.khei.Khem	H1870	a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
thoughts	וּמַחְשְׁבֹתַ֖י u.mach.she.vo.Tai	H4284	a contrivance · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix
thoughts	מִמַּחְשְׁבֹתֵיכֶֽם mi.mach.she.vo.tei.Khem	H4284	a contrivance · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Romans 11:31-36 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and…
Psalms 77:19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
Psalms 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Psalms 89:2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 55:6–end

We have here a further account of that covenant of grace which is made with us in Jesus Christ, both what is required and what is promised in the covenant, and of those considerations that are sufficient abundantly to confirm our believing compliance with and reliance on that covenant. This gracious discovery of God's good-will to the children of men is not to be confined either to the Jew or to the Gentile, to the Old Testament or to the New, much less to the captives in Babylon. No, both the precepts and the promises are here given to all, to every one that thirsts after happiness, Isa 55:1. And who does not? Hear this, and live. I. Here is a gracious offer made of pardon, and peace, and a…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 55:9

(Psa 57:10; Psa 89:2; Psa 103:11). "For" is repeated from Isa 55:8. But MAURER, after the negation, translates, "but."

Adam Clarke on Isaiah 55:9

For as the heavens are higher - I am persuaded that כ caph, the particle of comparison, is lost in this place, from the likeness of the particle כי ki, immediately preceding it. So Houbigant and Secker. And their remark is confirmed by all the ancient Versions, which express it; and by the following passage of Psa 103:11, which is almost the same: - הארץ על שמים כגבה כי haarets al shamayim chigboah ki יראיו על חסדו גבר yereaiv al chasdo gabar "For as the heavens are high above the earth, So high is his goodness over them that fear him." Where, by the nature of the sentence, the verb in the second line ought to be the same with that in the first; גבה gabah, not גבר gabar: so Archbishop Sec…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on Isaiah 55:9

For as the heavens, are higher than the earth,.... Than which there cannot be conceived a greater distance: so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts; which may denote the heavenliness of the ways and thoughts of God, the eternity and unsearchableness of them, and their excellency and preciousness; as well as the very great distance between his ways and thoughts and men's which this is designed to illustrate.

The Church Fathers

"If you would," he says, "Ascend to heaven, banish cares of earth. For far as earth is distant from the sky And heaven from the world below, so far Are your vain thoughts from my eternal thoughts, Ill from good, sin from virtue, dark from light. I counsel you to shun all passing things And deem as nought all to corruption prone, For it is destined to return to nought. All earth brings forth and holds, at dawn of time I made; I decked with splendid ornaments The shining world and formed the elements, But willed that the enjoyment be confined Within due bounds, as far as mortal frame And fleeting human life may have the need, Not that humanity, by unbridled passion ruled, Should reckon good alone things sweet and vain, Which I have preordained to pass with time.
— Prudentius, AGAINST SYMMACHUS 2:123-40

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Isaiah 55:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 55:6–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 55:9

Adam Clarke on Isaiah 55:9

John Gill on Isaiah 55:9

The Church Fathers

Isaiah 55:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 55:6–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 55:9

Adam Clarke on Isaiah 55:9

John Gill on Isaiah 55:9

The Church Fathers

John Calvin on Isaiah 55:9

Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 55:8-9

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 55:8-9

Rashi on Isaiah 55:9