Isaiah 40:24 - Exposition

They shall not be planted … shall not be sown … shall not take root. The verbs are all of them in the past tense. Translate, have not been planted , … sown , etc. The meaning is that princes and judges of the earth are not fixed in their places, have no firm root in the soil, are easily overturned. Even if the case were different, a breath from the Almighty would, as a matter of course, dry them up (see Isaiah 40:7 ) and blow them away. As stubble (comp. Isaiah 5:24 ; Psalms 83:13 ).