Isaiah 40:19

40:19 A craftsman casts ¹  an idol;

a metalsmith overlays it with gold

and forges silver chains for it.

Isaiah 45:16

45:16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;

those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. ² 

Isaiah 40:20

40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; ³ 

he then seeks a skilled craftsman

to make ⁴  an idol that will not fall over.

Isaiah 41:7

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ⁵  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ⁶ 

and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

Isaiah 44:11-12

44:11 Look, all his associates ⁷  will be put to shame;

the craftsmen are mere humans. ⁸ 

Let them all assemble and take their stand!

They will panic and be put to shame.

44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool ⁹ 

and forges metal over the coals.

He forms it ¹⁰  with hammers;

he makes it with his strong arm.

He gets hungry and loses his energy; ¹¹ 

he drinks no water and gets tired.

Isaiah 54:16

54:16 Look, I create the craftsman,

who fans the coals into a fire

and forges a weapon. ¹² 

I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

[40:19]  ¹ tn Heb “pours out”; KJV “melteth.”

[45:16]  ² tn “together they will walk in humiliation, the makers of images.”

[40:20]  ³ tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.

[40:20]  ⁴ tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”

[41:7]  ⁴ tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[44:11]  ⁵ 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.

[44:11]  ⁶ 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.”

[44:12]  ⁶ tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.

[44:12]  ⁷ 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.

[44:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”

[54:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “who brings out an implement for his work.”