Font Size
Isaiah 44:11-13
New English Translation
Isaiah 44:11-13
New English Translation
11 Look, all his associates[a] will be put to shame;
the craftsmen are mere humans.[b]
Let them all assemble and take their stand.
They will panic and be put to shame.
12 A blacksmith works with his tool[c]
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it[d] with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy;[e]
he drinks no water and gets tired.
13 A carpenter takes measurements;[f]
he marks out an outline of its form;[g]
he scrapes[h] it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form,[i]
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine.[j]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 44:11 tn The pronoun “his” probably refers to the one who forms/casts an idol (v. 10), in which case it refers to the craftsman’s associates in the idol-manufacturing guild.
- Isaiah 44:11 sn The point seems to be this: if the idols are the mere products of human hands, then those who trust in them will be disappointed, for man-made gods are incapable of helping their “creators.”
- Isaiah 44:12 tn The noun מַעֲצָד (maʿatsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.
- Isaiah 44:12 tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.
- Isaiah 44:12 tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”
- Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
- Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
- Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
- Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
- Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.