In this verse the prophet asks two more rhetorical questions, the same ones he used at the beginning of verse 21. Then he begins his response by describing God as the Creator.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?: See verse 21.

The LORD is the everlasting God means Yahweh is an eternal God. He has always existed and will always exist. He is not limited by time. This is the only place in Isaiah where he is described in this way.

The Creator of the ends of the earth describes Yahweh further. He is also not limited by space since he created the whole world. Creator renders the same Hebrew verb translated “created” in verse 26 (see the comments there). The ends of the earth refers to the furthest edges of the earth, which the ancient world thought was flat with edges (see the comments on 5.26). Here it is an idiom for the whole creation. Good News Translation says “all the world.”

He does not faint or grow weary refers to Yahweh’s infinite patience and strength. The prophet is responding to the people’s complaint that God has abandoned them. God will never tire of helping them; he will never abandon them. The Hebrew verb rendered faint does not refer to falling unconscious, but to growing weak and tired. It is synonymous with the verb grow weary. Both these verbs are in the imperfect form in Hebrew, which indicates that God never gets tired or weary. These verbs reappear in verses 30-31, where they are applied to humans. Through this repetition God’s inexhaustible strength is contrasted with human weariness.

His understanding is unsearchable means humans can never fully understand God’s wisdom. For understanding see the comments on verse 14 and 11.2. Unsearchable refers to something so deep or profound that it “cannot be fathomed” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). For this whole line Contemporary English Version says “his wisdom cannot be measured,” and Bible en français courant has “His know-how is without limit.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Don’t you know it? Haven’t you heard about it?
Yahweh is the eternal God.
He is the Creator of the whole world.
He never gets tired or weary.
No human can fully understand his wisdom.

• Surely you know this. Certainly you have heard about it.
The LORD is God from eternity.
He is Creator of the universe.
He doesn’t get tired or weary.
Nobody can ever fathom his deep understanding [of things].

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 .