Logos Bible Study

Isaiah 46:1–7

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The Lord Carries His People

46:1Bel1 kneels down,

Nebo2 bends low.

Their images weigh down animals and beasts.3

Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals.4

46:2Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images;5

they themselves6 head off into captivity.7

46:3“Listen to me, O family of Jacob,8

all you who are left from the family of Israel,9

you who have been carried from birth,10

you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.11

46:4Even when you are old, I will take care of you,12

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.13

46:5To whom can you compare and liken me?

Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!

46:6Those who empty out gold from a purse

and weigh out silver on the scale14

hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.

They then bow down and worship it.

46:7They put it on their shoulder and carry it;

they put it in its place and it just stands there;

it does not15 move from its place.

Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;

it does not deliver him from his distress.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See בֵּל.
  2. 2 Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.
  3. 3 Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; “are being hauled away.”
  4. 4 Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”
  5. 5 Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.
  6. 6 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”).
  7. 7 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.
  8. 8 Heb “house of Jacob”; “descendants of Jacob.”
  9. 9 Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”
  10. 10 Heb “from the womb” (so ); “from the belly”; “from your infancy.”
  11. 11 Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”
  12. 12 Heb “until old age, I am he” ( similar); “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”
  13. 13 Unlike the weary idol gods, whose images must be carried by animals, the Lord carries his weary people.
  14. 14 Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See 889 קָנֶה 4.c.
  15. 15 Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press