Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Isaiah » Chapter 44 » Verse 8-28

Isaiah 44:8-28 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

8 Fear H6342 ye not, neither be afraid: H7297 H7297 have not I told H8085 thee from that time, H227 and have declared H5046 it? ye are even my witnesses. H5707 Is there H3426 a God H433 beside H1107 me? yea, there is no God; H6697 I know H3045 not any.

9 They that make H3335 a graven image H6459 are all of them vanity; H8414 and their delectable things H2530 shall not profit; H3276 and they are their own witnesses; H5707 they see H7200 not, nor know; H3045 that they may be ashamed. H954

10 Who hath formed H3335 a god, H410 or molten H5258 a graven image H6459 that is profitable H3276 for nothing? H1115

11 Behold, all his fellows H2270 shall be ashamed: H954 and the workmen, H2796 they are of men: H120 let them all be gathered together, H6908 let them stand up; H5975 yet they shall fear, H6342 and they shall be ashamed H954 together. H3162

12 The smith H1270 H2796 with the tongs H4621 both worketh H6466 in the coals, H6352 and fashioneth H3335 it with hammers, H4717 and worketh H6466 it with the strength H3581 of his arms: H2220 yea, he is hungry, H7457 and his strength H3581 faileth: H369 he drinketh H8354 no water, H4325 and is faint. H3286

13 The carpenter H2796 H6086 stretcheth out H5186 his rule; H6957 he marketh it out H8388 with a line; H8279 he fitteth H6213 it with planes, H4741 and he marketh it out H8388 with the compass, H4230 and maketh H6213 it after the figure H8403 of a man, H376 according to the beauty H8597 of a man; H120 that it may remain H3427 in the house. H1004

14 He heweth him down H3772 cedars, H730 and taketh H3947 the cypress H8645 and the oak, H437 which he strengtheneth H553 for himself among the trees H6086 of the forest: H3293 he planteth H5193 an ash, H766 and the rain H1653 doth nourish H1431 it.

15 Then shall it be for a man H120 to burn: H1197 for he will take H3947 thereof, and warm H2552 himself; yea, he kindleth H5400 it, and baketh H644 bread; H3899 yea, he maketh H6466 a god, H410 and worshippeth H7812 it; he maketh H6213 it a graven image, H6459 and falleth down H5456 thereto.

16 He burneth H8313 part H2677 thereof in H1119 the fire; H784 with part H2677 thereof he eateth H398 flesh; H1320 he roasteth H6740 roast, H6748 and is satisfied: H7646 yea, he warmeth H2552 himself, and saith, H559 Aha, H1889 I am warm, H2552 I have seen H7200 the fire: H217

17 And the residue H7611 thereof he maketh H6213 a god, H410 even his graven image: H6459 he falleth down H5456 unto it, and worshippeth H7812 it, and prayeth H6419 unto it, and saith, H559 Deliver H5337 me; for thou art my god. H410

18 They have not known H3045 nor understood: H995 for he hath shut H2902 their eyes, H5869 that they cannot see; H7200 and their hearts, H3826 that they cannot understand. H7919

19 And none considereth H7725 in his heart, H3820 neither is there knowledge H1847 nor understanding H8394 to say, H559 I have burned H8313 part H2677 of it in H1119 the fire; H784 yea, also I have baked H644 bread H3899 upon the coals H1513 thereof; I have roasted H6740 flesh, H1320 and eaten H398 it: and shall I make H6213 the residue H3499 thereof an abomination? H8441 shall I fall down H5456 to the stock H944 of a tree? H6086

20 He feedeth H7462 on ashes: H665 a deceived H2048 heart H3820 hath turned him aside, H5186 that he cannot deliver H5337 his soul, H5315 nor say, H559 Is there not a lie H8267 in my right hand? H3225

21 Remember H2142 these, O Jacob H3290 and Israel; H3478 for thou art my servant: H5650 I have formed H3335 thee; thou art my servant: H5650 O Israel, H3478 thou shalt not be forgotten H5382 of me.

22 I have blotted out, H4229 as a thick cloud, H5645 thy transgressions, H6588 and, as a cloud, H6051 thy sins: H2403 return H7725 unto me; for I have redeemed H1350 thee.

23 Sing, H7442 O ye heavens; H8064 for the LORD H3068 hath done H6213 it: shout, H7321 ye lower parts H8482 of the earth: H776 break forth H6476 into singing, H7440 ye mountains, H2022 O forest, H3293 and every tree H6086 therein: for the LORD H3068 hath redeemed H1350 Jacob, H3290 and glorified H6286 himself in Israel. H3478

24 Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 thy redeemer, H1350 and he that formed H3335 thee from the womb, H990 I am the LORD H3068 that maketh H6213 all things; that stretcheth forth H5186 the heavens H8064 alone; that spreadeth abroad H7554 the earth H776 by myself;

25 That frustrateth H6565 the tokens H226 of the liars, H907 and maketh diviners H7080 mad; H1984 that turneth H7725 wise H2450 men backward, H268 and maketh their knowledge H1847 foolish; H5528

26 That confirmeth H6965 the word H1697 of his servant, H5650 and performeth H7999 the counsel H6098 of his messengers; H4397 that saith H559 to Jerusalem, H3389 Thou shalt be inhabited; H3427 and to the cities H5892 of Judah, H3063 Ye shall be built, H1129 and I will raise up H6965 the decayed places H2723 thereof:

27 That saith H559 to the deep, H6683 Be dry, H2717 and I will dry up H3001 thy rivers: H5104

28 That saith H559 of Cyrus, H3566 He is my shepherd, H7462 and shall perform H7999 all my pleasure: H2656 even saying H559 to Jerusalem, H3389 Thou shalt be built; H1129 and to the temple, H1964 Thy foundation shall be laid. H3245

Commentary on Isaiah 44 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 44

Isa 44:1-28. Continuation of the Previous Chapter.

1-5. Yet—Though thou hast sinned, yet hear God's gracious promise as to thy deliverance.

chosen—(Isa 41:8).

2. (Isa 43:1, 7).

formed … from … womb—(So Isa 44:24; Isa 49:1, 5). The sense is similar to that in Isa 1:2, "I have nourished and brought up children."

Jesurun—A diminutive term of endearment applied to Israel. The full title of affection was Israelun; contracted it became Jeshurun, with an allusion to the Hebrew root, jashar, "upright," "perfect" (see on Isa 42:19, note on "He that is perfect") [Gesenius], (De 32:15).

3. (Isa 41:18).

him … thirsty—rather, "the land" (Isa 35:6, 7), figuratively for man thirsting after righteousness (Mt 5:6).

floods—the abundant influences of the Holy Spirit, stronger than "water."

spirit—including all spiritual and temporal gifts, as the parallel, "blessing," proves (Isa 11:2; 32:15).

seed—(Isa 59:21).

4. they—thy "seed" and "offspring" (Isa 44:3).

as among—needlessly inserted in English Version. Rather, "The seed shall spring up as willows among the grass beside canals of water" [Horsley]. Or, "They shall spring up among the grass (that is, luxuriantly; for what grows in the midst of grass grows luxuriantly) as willows by the water-courses," which makes the parallel clauses better balanced [Maurer].

5. The third clause answers in parallelism to the first, the fourth to the second.

I am the Lord's—(Jer 50:5; 1Co 6:19, 20; 2Co 8:5).

call himself by the name of Jacob—The Gentiles (as the result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Israel, the Lord's "seed," first) shall join themselves to the children of Jacob, in order to worship their God (compare Isa 43:7; Ps 49:11). Or, "calls," that is, invokes and celebrates the name of Jacob, attaches himself to his nation and religion [Maurer], (Ps 24:6).

subscribe … hand unto … Lord—in solemn and public covenant, pledging himself to God's service (compare Ne 9:38), before "witnesses" (Heb 12:1), after the manner of a civil contract (Jer 32:10, 12, 44). So the Christian in the sacraments [Barnes]. Literally, "shall fill his hand with letters (Ex 32:15; Eze 2:10) in honor of Jehovah"; or "shall write upon his hand, I am Jehovah's" (compare Isa 49:16; Re 13:16); alluding to the puncture with ink on the hand, whereby a soldier marked himself as bound to his commander; and whereby the Christians used to mark themselves with the name of Christ [Lowth]. The former view is simpler.

surname himself … Israel—Maurer and Gesenius interpret this as the Hebrew sanctions, answering to their rendering of the parallel second clause, "calls blandly (speaks in honorable terms of) the name of Israel." Retaining English Version, we must, from the Hebrew understand it thus, "Surname himself by the honorable name of Israel" (Isa 45:4).

6. Here follows an argument for Jehovah, as the only God, and against the idols, as vanity (see on Isa 41:4; Isa 43:1; Isa 43:10-12).

7. Who but God can predict future events and declare also the order and time of each (see on Isa 41:22, 23; Isa 45:21)?

call—"openly proclaim" (Isa 40:6) things to come [Maurer]. Or, "call forth" the event; command that it happen (Isa 46:11; 48:15), [Barnes].

set … in order—There is no chance or confusion; all events occur in the order best fitted to subserve God's plans.

for me—It is FOR God that all things exist and take place (Re 4:11). But Maurer translates, "Let him set it forth (Job 37:19) to me."

since … ancient people—I have given the Jews predictions of the future ever since I appointed them as My people in ancient times; therefore they were qualified to be His witnesses (Isa 44:8). As to their being God's "ancient (everlasting) people," see De 32:7-9; Jer 31:3; the type of the redeemed Church (Eph 1:4).

8. be afraid—literally, "be astounded," or "distracted with fear."

from that time—namely, from the time that "I appointed the ancient people" (Isa 44:7). From the time of Abraham's call, his family were the depositories of the predictions of the Redeemer, whereas the promise of Cyrus was not heard of till Isaiah's time; therefore, the event to the prediction and accomplishment of which God appeals in proof of His sole Godhead, is the redemption of man by a descendant of Abraham, in whose person "the ancient people" was first formally "appointed." The deliverance of the Jews, by Cyrus, is mentioned afterwards only as an earnest of that greater mercy [Horsley].

no God—Hebrew, tsur, "rock" (De 32:4); that is, a stronghold to take refuge in, and a solid foundation to build on.

9. (Isa 40:18, 20; 41:29).

delectable things—the idols in which they take such pride and delight.

not profit—(Hab 2:18).

they are their own witnesses—contrasted with, "Ye are My witnesses" (Isa 44:8). "They," that is, both the makers and the idols, are witnesses against themselves, for the idols palpably see and know nothing (Ps 115:4-8).

that they may be ashamed—the consequence deducible from the whole previous argument, not merely from the words immediately preceding, as in Isa 28:13; 36:12. I say all this to show that they are doomed to perish with shame, which is their only fitting end.

10. Who … ?—Sarcastic question: "How debased the man must be who forms a god!" It is a contradiction in terms. A made god, worshipped by its maker (1Co 8:4)!

11. his fellows—the associates of him who makes an idol; or of the idol (see De 7:26; Ps 115:8; Ho 4:17).

they are of men—They are mortal men themselves; what better, then, can the idol be than its maker?

gathered together … stand up—as in a court of justice, to try the issue between God and them (see on Isa 41:1; Isa 41:21).

yet—wrongly inserted in English Version. The issue of the trial shall be, "they shall fear," &c.

12. tongs—rather, "prepareth (to be supplied) an axe," namely, with which to cut down the tree designed as the material of the idol. The "smith" (Hebrew, "workman in iron") here answers to the "carpenter" (Hebrew, "workman in wood"). "He worketh it (the axe, not the idol, which was wood, not metal) in the coals," &c. The axe was wrought, not cast. The smith makes the axe for the carpenter.

hungry … drinketh no water—so eager is he to expedite his work while the iron is hot. If the god were worth anything, it would not let him grow "faint" with hunger and thirst. Williams, the missionary, states that the South Sea islanders when they make an idol abstain from food and drink.

13. After the smith's work in preparing the instruments comes the carpenter's work in forming the idol.

rule—rather, "line" [Barnes].

with a line—rather, a "pencil," [Horsley]. Literally, "red ochre," which he uses to mark on the wood the outline of the figure [Lowth]. Or best, the stylus or graver, with which the incision of the outline is made [Gesenius].

planes—rather, "chisels" or "carving tools," for a plane would not answer for carving.

compass—from a Hebrew root, "to make a circle"; by it, symmetry of form is secured.

according to … beauty of a man—irony. The highest idea the heathen could form of a god was one of a form like their own. Jerome says, "The more handsome the statue the more august the god was thought." The incarnation of the Son of God condescends to this anthropomorphic feeling so natural to man, but in such a way as to raise man's thoughts up to the infinite God who "is a spirit."

that it may remain in … house—the only thing it was good for; it could not hear nor save (compare Wisdom 13:15).

14. Description of the material out of which the idol is formed.

cypress—rather, from Hebrew root, "to be hard," the holm oak," an evergreen abundant in Palestine [Gesenius].

strengtheneth—literally, "and he getteth strength to himself in the trees of the forest;" that is, he layeth in a great store of timber [Lowth]. Or, "chooseth," as "madest strong for thyself," that is, hast chosen (Ps 80:15, 17) [Gesenius]. But English Version gives a good sense: "strengtheneth"; that is, rears to maturity; a meaning suitable also to the context of Ps 80:15, 17, where Israel is compared to a vine planted by Jehovah [Maurer].

rain doth nourish it—Though the man planted the tree, yet he could not make it grow. In preparing to make an idol, he has to depend on the true God for rain from heaven (Jer 14:22).

15. The same tree that furnishes the material for the god is in part used as fuel for a fire to cook his meals and warm himself!

thereto—rather, "he falleth down before them," that is, such images [Maurer].

16. part … part—not distinct parts, but the same part of the wood (compare Isa 44:17).

eateth—that is, cooks so as to eat (Isa 44:19).

I have seen—I feel its power.

18. he, &c.—God hath given them over to judicial blindness; not His direct physical, but His providential agency in administering His moral government, is meant (Isa 6:9, 10). "Shut," literally, "daubed," plastered up; it is an Eastern custom in some cases to seal up the eyes of offenders.

19. considereth—literally, "layeth it to heart," (Isa 42:25; Jer 12:11).

abomination—the scriptural term for an idol, not merely abominable, but the essence of what is so, in the eyes of a jealous God (1Ki 11:5, 7).

20. feedeth on ashes—figuratively, for the idolater delights in what is vain (Pr 15:14; Ho 12:1). "Feedeth on wind." There is an allusion, perhaps, also, to the god being made of a tree, the half of which was reduced to ashes by fire (Isa 44:15-17); the idol, it is implied, was no better, and could, and ought, to have been reduced to ashes like the other half.

deceived heart—The heart and will first go astray, then the intellect and life (Ro 1:28; Eph 4:18).

lie in … right hand—Is not my handiwork (the idol) a self-deceit?

21. Remember—"Be not like the idolaters who consider not in their heart" (Isa 44:19).

these—things just said as to the folly of idol-worship.

my servant—not like the idolaters, slaves to the stock of a tree (Isa 44:19). See Isa 44:1, 2.

thou … not … forgotten of me—Therefore thou oughtest to "remember" Me.

22. blotted out—the debt of thy sin from the account-book in which it was entered (Ex 32:32, 33; Re 20:12).

as a thick cloud—scattered away by the wind (Ps 103:12).

as a cloud—a descending gradation. Not only the "thick cloud" of the heavier "transgressions," but the "cloud" ("vapor" [Lowth], not so dense, but covering the sky as a mist) of the countless "sins." These latter, though not thought much of by man, need, as much as the former, to be cleared away by the Sun of righteousness; else they will be a mist separating us from heaven (Ps 19:12, 13; 1Jo 1:7-9).

return … for—The antecedent redemption is the ground of, and motive to, repentance. We do not repent in order that He may redeem us, but because He hath redeemed us (Zec 12:10; Lu 24:47; Ac 3:18,19). He who believes in his being forgiven cannot but love (Lu 7:43, 47).

23. Call to inanimate nature to praise God; for it also shall share in the coming deliverance from "the bondage of corruption" (Ro 8:20, 21).

done it—effected redemption for both the literal and spiritual Israel.

lower parts, &c.—antithetical to "heavens"; "mountains," "forest," and "tree," are the intermediate objects in a descending gradation (see Ps 96:11, 12).

24-28. Confirmation of His promises to the Church and Israel, by various instances of His omnipotence; among these the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus.

alone—literally, "Who was with Me?" namely, when I did it; answering to "by Myself," in the parallel clause (compare similar phrases, Ho 8:4; Joh 5:30) [Maurer].

25. tokens—prognostics; the pretended miracles which they gave as proofs of their supernatural powers.

liars—(Jer 50:36). Conjurers; or, astrologers; men leading a retired contemplative life in order to study divination by the signs of the stars [Vitringa].

backward—with shame at their predictions not being verified. "To turn away the face" is to frustrate defeat (Isa 36:9; 1Ki 2:15). The "wise men" are the diviners who, when Babylon was attacked by Cyrus, predicted his overthrow.

26. servant—in a collective sense, for the prophets in general, who foretold the return from Babylon; answering to "His messengers" (plural, in the parallel clause) [Maurer]. Antitypically, and ultimately, Messiah, who is the consummating embodiment of all the prophets and messengers of God (Mal 3:1; Mt 21:34, 36, 37; Joh 10:36); hence the singular, "His servant."

counsel—predictions; prophets' counsels concern the future (compare "counsellor," Isa 41:28).

Jerusalem—regarded prophetically, as lying in ruins.

27. Referring to the Euphrates, which was turned into a different channel, close to Babylon, by Cyrus, who thereby took the city. "The deep" is applied to Euphrates as "sea" (Jer 51:32, 36). "Rivers" refers to the artificial canals from the Euphrates made to irrigate the country; when it was turned off into a different bed (namely, a lake, forty miles square, which was originally formed to receive the superfluous water in an inundation), the canals became dry.

28. my shepherd—type of Messiah (Isa 40:11; Ps 23:1; 77:20; Eze 34:23).

all my pleasure—so Messiah (Isa 42:1; 53:10). This is the first time Cyrus is named expressly; and that, a hundred fifty years before the time when in 550 B.C. he began his reign. The name comes from the Persian khorschid, "the sun"; kings often taking their names from the gods; the sun was worshipped as a god in Persia.

saying—rather, "and that saith"; construed with God, not with Cyrus. God's word is instantaneously efficient in accomplishing His will.

to … to—or, "of Jerusalem … of the temple," as previously, the same Hebrew word is translated, "of Cyrus" [Barnes]. English Version is more graphic. Cyrus, according to Josephus, heard of this prophecy of Isaiah delivered so long before; hence he was induced to do that which was so contrary to Oriental policy, to aid in restoring the captive Jews and rebuilding their temple and city.