Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Lest the Jews should suppose that He who was just before described as a "shepherd" is a mere man, He is now described as GOD.
Who hath measured the waters? - Who else but GOD could do so? Therefore, though the redemption and restoration of His people, foretold here, was a work beyond man's power, they should not doubt its fulfillment, since all things are possible to Him who can accurately regulate the proportion of the waters as if he had measured them with His hand (cf. Isaiah 40:15). Others translate, 'Who can measure?' etc. - i:e., How immeasurable are the works of God! The former is a better explanation (Job 28:25, "He weigheth the waters by measure;" Proverbs 30:4).
The span - the space from the end of the thumb to the end of the middle finger extended. God measures the vast heavens as one would measure a small object with his span. Dust of the earth - all the earth is to Him but as a few grains of dust contained in a small measure-literally, the third part of a larger measure: a tierce (ba-shshalish).
The hills in a balance - adjusted in their right proportions and places, as exactly as if He had weighed them out. There is a law of compensation throughout the distribution and conformation of the seas and the dry lands of the globe. Were they varied, and the mountain ranges displaced, the rain-fall would be entirely altered, and the present fauna and flora would perish (cf. Psalms 95:4-5). The ocean is made vast, in order that the atmosphere may be the means of drawing up exactly that amount of vapour which the dry land needs. The cold tops of the hills are the condensers which gather the moisture into the drops of rain, to prevent the land becoming a desert.