For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counseller, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

And when I look, there is no man: even among them there is no counsellor, that, when I ask of them, can answer a word.

And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word.

And I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counselor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

And I see that there is no man, Yea, of these that there is no counsellor, And I ask them, and they return word:

And I saw that there was no man, even no wise man among them, who might give an answer to my questions.

And I look, but there is no man; Even among them, but there is no counsellor, That, when I ask of them, can give an answer.

Aspexi, nec nullus erat; de istis inquisivi, et nullus erat consiliarius; interrogavi cos, nec responderunt verbum.

I looked, and there was none. After having spoken of himself, the Lord returns to idols; for these are continued contrasts by which a comparison is drawn between God and idols. As if he had said, "I do these things, but idols cannot do them; they have no counsel, or wisdom, or understanding; they cannot give an answer to those that ask them, and cannot yield any alleviation to the wretched." In this comparison we ought to observe that he plainly shews himself to be God, first, by the prophets and by their doctrine, and, secondly, by his works in a similar manner; and that nothing of this kind is found in idols; from which it follows, that they are not gods, and that we ought to rely on him alone. Besides, the eyes of men are darkened by slothfulness; because they neither inquire, nor consider, nor observe. Thus they are stupified by idols, for they are willingly deceived; because they would immediately perceive the emptiness of idols, if they carefully applied their minds to examine them. This shews that idolaters cannot be excused on the plea of ignorance, for they choose to be blind and to wander in darkness, rather than to see the light and embrace the truth.

For I beheld - I looked upon the pagan world, among all the pretended prophets, and the priests of pagan idolatry.
And there was no man - No man among them who could predict these future events.
No counselor - No one qualified to give counsel, or that could anticipate by his sagacity what would take place.
That, when I asked of them - In the manner referred to in this chapter. There is no one of whom it could be inquired what would take place in future times.
Could answer a word - They were unable to discern what would come to pass, or to predict the events which are referred to here.

Among them "Among the idols" - For ומאלה umeelleh, I read ומאלים umeellim, with the Septuagint, και απο των ειδωλων, "and from or among the idols. "See Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 57:5.
R. D. Kimchi has many good observations on this chapter. Bishop Lowth follows him in applying it to Abraham, and not to Cyrus; the whole being spoken in the past tense, which is not used, or rarely, in such a case for the future. Almost the whole of the rabbins understand it of Abraham. On Kimchi's plan, the following is a paraphrase.
The righteous man - Abram, from the east - the land of his nativity, called the land of the children of the east, Genesis 29:1.
Brought him to his feet - Whithersoever his feet went, he preached righteousness and truth; as it is written, "There he proclaimed in the name of Jehovah," Genesis 21:31. And he called it ויקראהו vaiyikraehu - that is, צרק tsedek, righteousness, to his feet, enabled him to hold it forth wherever he went.
He called the nations - To leave their idols and worship him who made the universe. He taught them the way of righteousness, truth, and faith. Was there ever a prodigy like to this? A man who had been an idolater, rising up against all the nations of the earth, reproving their faith, and not fearing before them nor their kings! Who stirred up his heart to do this? Was it not the Lord?
Gave the nations before him - And made him rule over kings - Chedorlaomer, and the kings which were with him: whom the Lord gave as dust to his sword, and stubble to his bow.
He pursued them - He and his three hundred and eighteen servants.
He passed safely - שלום shalom for בשלום beshalom, in safety; so said, because he lost not one of his men in this expedition. See Kimchi.

For (b) I beheld, and [there was] no man; even among them, and [there was] no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
(b) When I looked whether the idols could do these things, I found that they had neither wisdom nor power to do anything: therefore he concludes that all are wicked that trust in such vanities.

For I beheld, and there was no man,.... Among all the Pagan priests and prophets, that could foretell things to come; or could prove that their idols did or could say anything in favour of them:
even amongst them, and there was no counsellor: none that could be advocates for these idols, and plead their cause; or could give any good advice and counsel to persons that needed it, and who applied to them or their idols for it:
that, when I asked of them, could answer a word; when asked what they had to say on behalf of their gods they worshipped, were dumb and speechless; moreover, all this may be said of the idols themselves, that there was none among them that could foretell a future event, or give any wholesome counsel to their worshippers, or could say anything in their own defence; and therefore, to close the controversy, the following sentence is pronounced.

no counsellor--no one of the idolatrous soothsayers who could inform (Numbers 24:14) those who consulted them what would take place. Compare "counsel of His messenger" (Isaiah 44:26).
when I asked--that is, challenged them, in this chapter.

For - I looked to see if I could find any man that could foretel future events. No man - Not any, of the idols; for the word man is sometimes used by the Hebrews of brute creatures, and even of lifeless things. No counsellor - Though these idols were often consulted, yet none of them were able to give any solid and certain advice concerning future things.