Isa 40:22 | NETfull | STEP | 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 40:22

22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; ^{▼▼ Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).}
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. ^{▼▼ The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.}
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, ^{▼▼ 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).}
and spreads it out ^{▼▼ 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.} like a pitched tent. ^{▼▼ Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”}