Isaiah 40:22

40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon;

its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.

He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain,

and spreads it out like a pitched tent.

Isaiah 42:5

42:5 This is what the true God, the Lord, says –

the one who created the sky and stretched it out,

the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it,

the one who gives breath to the people on it,

and life to those who live on it:

Isaiah 44:24

The Lord Empowers Cyrus

44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, says,

the one who formed you in the womb:

“I am the Lord, who made everything,

who alone stretched out the sky,

who fashioned the earth all by myself, 10 

Isaiah 45:12

45:12 I made the earth,

I created the people who live 11  on it.

It was me – my hands 12  stretched out the sky, 13 

I give orders to all the heavenly lights. 14 


tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).

tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.

tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”

tn Heb “the God.” The definite article here indicates distinctiveness or uniqueness.

tn Heb “and its offspring” (so NASB); NIV “all that comes out of it.”

tn Heb “and spirit [i.e., “breath”] to the ones walking in it” (NAB, NASB, and NRSV all similar).

tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

10 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.

11 tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

12 tn Heb “I, even my hands”; NASB “I stretched out…with My hands”; NRSV “it was my hands that stretched out.” The same construction occurs at the beginning of v. 13.

13 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

14 tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.