Text -- Isaiah 46:1-8 (NET)

The Lord Carries His People

46:1 Bel kneels down, Nebo bends low. Their images weigh down animals and beasts. Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. 46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down; they are unable to rescue the images; they themselves head off into captivity. 46:3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, all you who are left from the family of Israel, you who have been carried from birth, you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. 46:4 Even when you are old, I will take care of you, even when you have gray hair, I will carry you. I made you and I will support you; I will carry you and rescue you. 46:5 To whom can you compare and liken me? Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared! 46:6 Those who empty out gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scale hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god. They then bow down and worship it. 46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress. 46:8 Remember this, so you can be brave! Think about it, you rebels!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 46:1

¹ sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.

² sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.

³ tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”

⁴ tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”

NET Notes: Isa 46:2

¹ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

² tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

³ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

NET Notes: Isa 46:3

¹ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”

² tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”

³ tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”

⁴ tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”

NET Notes: Isa 46:4

¹ tn Heb “until old age, I am he” (NRSV similar); NLT “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”

² sn Unlike the weary idol gods, whose images must be carried by animals, the Lord carries his weary people.

NET Notes: Isa 46:6

¹ tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.

NET Notes: Isa 46:7

¹ tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.

NET Notes: Isa 46:8

¹ tn The meaning of the verb אָשַׁשׁ (’ashash, which appears here in the Hitpolel stem) is uncertain. BDB 84 s.v. אשׁשׁ relates it to a root meaning “found, establish” in Arabic; HALOT 100 s.v. II אשׁשׁ gives the meaning “pluck up courage.” The imperative with vav (ו) may indicate purpose following the preceding imperative.

² tn Heb “return [it], rebels, to heart”; NRSV “recall it to mind, you transgressors.”