The Meaning of Isaiah 41:24 Explained

Isaiah 41:24

KJV: Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

YLT: Lo, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought, An abomination -- it fixeth on you.

Darby: Behold, ye are less than nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you. ...

ASV: Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Behold, ye [are] of nothing,  and your work  of nought:  an abomination  [is he that] chooseth  you. 

What does Isaiah 41:24 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Since these challenges go unanswered, the Lord judges the idols as nothing, and their supposed work amounts to nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4). Furthermore, people who worship them are an abomination because they follow such nonentities and because in doing so they become like their gods.
"It is not the idea of polytheistic idolatry that is abominable [1], but rather the act of replacing the truth with that system [2]." [3]

Context Summary

Isaiah 41:17-29 - What The Lord's Hand Does For The Needy
Life is not easy for any of us, if we regard external conditions only; but directly we learn the divine secret, rivers flow from bare heights, fountains arise in sterile valleys, and the desert blooms like the forest-glade. To the ordinary eye there might appear no outward change in the forbidding circumstance; but faith's eye always beholds a very paradise of beauty where other eyes see only straitened circumstances and a trying lot.
Once again our minds are brought back to the great convocation announced in the opening verses of the chapter. The idols are asked to say or do something to prove that they are divine. See Isaiah 41:21-23. There is no response; with the result that a crushing verdict is passed on them as recorded in Isaiah 41:24. On the other hand, the prophet of the Lord is prepared with His predictions of Cyrus "the one from the East," (see Isaiah 41:2 and Isaiah 44:28) which would be fulfilled before that generation had passed away. Let us give heed to the sure word of prophecy, "as unto a light that shineth in a dark place," 2 Peter 1:19. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 41

1  God expostulates with his people, about his mercies to the church
10  About his promises
21  And about the vanity of idols

What do the individual words in Isaiah 41:24 mean?

Indeed you [are] nothing and your work [is] nothing [is] an abomination [He who] chooses you
הֵן־ אַתֶּ֣ם מֵאַ֔יִן וּפָעָלְכֶ֖ם מֵאָ֑פַע תּוֹעֵבָ֖ה יִבְחַ֥ר בָּכֶֽם

הֵן־  Indeed 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הֵן  
Sense: behold, lo, though hypothetical part.
אַתֶּ֣ם  you  [are] 
Parse: Pronoun, second person masculine plural
Root: אַתְּ 
Sense: you (second pers.
מֵאַ֔יִן  nothing 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
וּפָעָלְכֶ֖ם  and  your  work  [is] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: פֹּעַל  
Sense: work, deed, doing.
מֵאָ֑פַע  nothing 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֶפַע  
Sense: worthless, of nought.
תּוֹעֵבָ֖ה  [is]  an  abomination 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תֹּועֵבָה  
Sense: a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable.
יִבְחַ֥ר  [He  who]  chooses 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בָּחוּר 
Sense: to choose, elect, decide for.