Yahweh is pictured here as a master craftsman or architect who measures and weighs the elements of creation.

The interrogative pronoun Who introduces five rhetorical questions in this verse. The implied answer to each question is that no human has done the things mentioned, only Yahweh has. Each question uses hyperbole to stress that only Yahweh can do these things. For humans to try and do them would not only be impossible, it would be quite ridiculous. In this way the prophet states clearly that no human can be compared with God, the Creator of all. As noted in the introductory comments on this section [40.12-31], translators should keep the question form if possible. Otherwise the questions may be replaced by strong statements (see the second example below).

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand: This question implies that God is so great that he is able to measure the seas in the palm of his hand. No human can do this. The waters refers to the seas. One Dead Sea Scrolls text make this clear with “the water of the sea” (also New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The hollow of his hand is the cup shape formed when a hand is held with the palm up.

And marked off the heavens with a span: The heavens refers to “the sky” (Good News Translation). A span is the distance between the tip of the thumb and to the tip of the little finger when the hand is spread out. God is so great he can measure the whole sky with one span of his hand. Good News Translation says simply “measure the sky with his hands.” Bible en français courant has “Who has gauged with the fingers spread the diameter of the sky?”

Enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure: God is also so great he can place all the soil on earth inside a measuring container. The dust of the earth refers to the earth’s soil. The Hebrew word for measure is literally “a third.” Here it refers to some kind of measuring container. The versions give a variety of renderings for this word, including “cup” (Good News Translation), “bowl” (New Century Version), “bucket” (Contemporary English Version), and “basket” (New International Version). Translators may use any container that measures liquids or solids.

And weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance pictures God picking up all the mountains and hills and placing them on a pair of scales to see what they weigh. The verb weighed serves both lines. The Hebrew words for scales and balance both refer to balance scales. Balance scales are an instrument for weighing objects. Ancient balance scales often consisted of a rod held by a cord or chain in the middle with pans attached to both ends. Weights were placed in one pan, while the items to be weighed were placed in the other. Since these two parallel lines are nearly synonymous in meaning, Good News Translation combines them, and so does Bible en français courant with “Who has weighed on a scale the mountains and the hills?” If languages have only one word for mountains and hills (see the comments on 2.2), another possible model for these two lines is “Who has weighed on a scale all the [big and small] mountains?”

Revised Standard Version uses past tense for the rhetorical questions in verses 12-14, but Good News Translation has present tense. Translators may use either tense here.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Who has measured the oceans in the palm of his hand,
marked off the sky with a hand’s breadth,
placed all the dirt of the earth in a measuring container,
weighed the mountains on a pair of scales,
or [weighed] the hills on a set of balances?

• No human has measured the seas in his hand,
marked off the sky with a span of his hand,
put all the earth’s soil in a measuring cup,
weighed the mountains on a scale,
and the hills on a balance! Nobody!

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .