Discovery BoxPsalms 115:4-8
Context115:4 Their 1 idols are made of silver and gold –
they are man-made. 2
115:5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
115:6 ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell,
115:7 hands, but cannot touch,
feet, but cannot walk.
They cannot even clear their throats. 3
115:8 Those who make them will end up 4 like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
Psalms 135:15-18
Context135:15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold,
they are man-made. 5
135:16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
135:17 and ears, but cannot hear.
Indeed, they cannot breathe. 6
135:18 Those who make them will end up 7 like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
Isaiah 1:31
Context1:31 The powerful will be like 8 a thread of yarn,
their deeds like a spark;
both will burn together,
and no one will put out the fire.
Isaiah 44:14-20
Context44:14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress 9 or an oak.
He gets 10 trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar 11 and the rain makes it grow.
44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; 12
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it. 13
44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –
over that half he cooks 14 meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
44:17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern. 15
44:19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire –
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 16
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ 18
[115:4] 1 tn The referent of the pronominal suffix is “the nations” (v. 2).
[115:4] 2 tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”
[115:7] 3 tn Heb “they cannot mutter in their throats.” Verse 5a refers to speaking, v. 7c to inarticulate sounds made in the throat (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:140-41).
[115:8] 4 tn Heb “will be.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a prayer, “may those who make them end up like them.”
[135:15] 5 tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”
[135:17] 6 tn Heb “indeed, there is not breath in their mouth.” For the collocation אַף אֵין (’af ’en, “indeed, there is not”) see Isa 41:26. Another option is to take אַף as “nose” (see Ps 115:6), in which case one might translate, “a nose, [but] they have no breath in their mouths.”
[135:18] 7 tn Heb “will be.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a prayer, “may those who make them end up like them.”
[1:31] 8 tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).
[44:14] 9 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
[44:14] 10 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
[44:14] 11 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (’oren) to אֶרֶז (’erez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”
[44:15] 12 tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”
[44:15] 13 tn Or perhaps, “them.”
[44:16] 14 tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”
[44:18] 15 tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”
[44:19] 16 tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.
