Text -- Isaiah 46:1-2 (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.

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.