Isaiah 2 · Verse 22

Isaiah 2:22

Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Isaiah 2:22, King James Version

Isaiah 2:22 in other translations

BSBPut no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
WEBStop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?
ASVCease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?
YLTCease for you from man, Whose breath is in his nostrils, For--in what is he esteemed?
DARBYCease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for what account is to be made of him?
BBEHave no more to do with man, whose life is only a breath, for he is of no value.
WebsterCease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

What does Isaiah 2:22 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
22. The high ones (Is 2:11, 13) on whom the people trust, shall be "brought low" (Is 3:2); therefore "cease from" depending on them, instead of on the Lord (Psa 146:3-5).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 22 Cease ye from man - Trust neither in him, nor in the gods that he has invented. Neither he, nor they, can either save or destroy.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 2:10-22

The taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans seems first meant here, when idolatry among the Jews was done away; but our thoughts are led forward to the destruction of all the enemies of Christ. It is folly for those who are pursued by the wrath of God, to think to hide or shelter themselves from it. The shaking of the earth will be terrible to those who set their affections on things of the earth. Men's haughtiness…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 2:10-22 →

Isaiah 2:22 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

חִדְל֤וּchid.LuceaseH2308
לָכֶם֙la.Khem<for> yourselves
מִן\־min-fromH4480
הָ֣אָדָ֔םha.'a.Dam<the> humankindH120
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhomH834
נְשָׁמָ֖הne.sha.MahbreathH5397
בְּאַפּ֑וֹbe.'a.Po[is] in nostril[s] hisH639
כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
בַמֶּ֥הva.Meh<in> how?H4100
נֶחְשָׁ֖בnech.Shavto be accountedH2803
הֽוּא\׃\ \פHu'[is] heH1931

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 2:22

  • Jeremiah 17:5

    Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

  • Psalms 146:3

    Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

  • James 4:14

    Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

  • Psalms 144:3-4

    Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

  • Psalms 8:4

    What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

  • Genesis 2:7

    And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

  • Psalms 62:9

    Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

  • Isaiah 40:15

    Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

  • Job 27:3

    All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

  • Genesis 7:22

    All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

  • Job 7:15-21

    So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity. What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment? …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Cease.
Ps 62:9; 146:3; Jer 17:5
whose.
Ge 2:7; 7:22; Job 27:3
for wherein.
Job 7:15-21; Ps 8:4; 144:3,4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 2:21

    To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

  • Isaiah 2:22

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

Read all of Isaiah 2

Isaiah 2:22 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Dejaos del hombre, cuyo hálito está en su nariz; porque ¿de qué es él estimado?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Finissez-en avec l’homme, dont le souffle est dans ses narines, car quel cas doit-on faire de lui?
German
Elberfelder 1871		Lasset ab von dem Menschen, in dessen Nase nur ein Odem ist! denn wofür ist er zu achten?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quiescite ergo ab homine, cujus spiritus in naribus ejus est, quia excelsus reputatus est ipse.