Isaiah 17:8
in Isaiah 17They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they shall not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they have respect to that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images.
KJV
And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.
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This verse in Isaiah 17
Commentary
14 notes on this verse(Verse 7, 8) On that day, a man will turn towards his Maker, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. He will not turn towards the altars that his hands have made, nor towards the works of his fingers. He will not look to the groves and shrines. Some interpret this as fulfilled during the time of Christ, when the kingdom of Damascus was destroyed and the eternal kingdom of the Savior succeeded, and the error of idolatry was diminished. It is indeed a pious interpretation, but it does not follow the order of history.
This site's exposition
men will look to their Maker
on Isaiah 17:7-9
The judgment turns the survivors' eyes "to the Holy One of Israel," the title Isaiah carries through the whole book. They will no longer look to the altars, Asherahs and incense altars their own hands made. Verse 9 leaves their strong cities "like forsaken thickets and summits."
This site's exposition
the altars they have fashioned with their hands
Barnes links these altars with the foreign altars set up by Israel's kings and by Ahaz, who copied one he saw at Damascus. The Asherahs were wooden poles for the goddess Asherah. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown connect them with the sacred tree of the Assyrian inscriptions.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 7, 8). On that day, man will bow down to his maker and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. And he will not bow down to the altars that his hands have made, nor to the things that his fingers have worked on; he will not look to the groves and shrines. In that time, when the Lord your God called the people of Israel, who were once called a fruitful olive tree (Jeremiah 11:16), and as we read in the Psalms: Your children will be like young olive trees around your table (Psalm 128:3), if the Lord hungry for the dryness of spiritual grace finds barely two olives, or three, or four, or five, the fullness of the Gentiles will enter, and they will not bow down to idols made by hands, but they will bow down to their own God, looking to the Holy One of Israel, and they will despise altars, groves, and shrines, knowing that which is written: Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted (Matthew 15:13).
By this it is clearly promised that the glory of Israel and all her riches will be taken away, and only a few, who like the few berries on an olive branch can be counted easily, will be left. These are the ones who believe in the Lord. Just after this there is a prophecy of the entire human race turning away from the error of idolatry and recognizing the God of Israel.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Temples (delubra), temples in which there were fonts, as though for washing, below: in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver (Isa 31:7).
Those who trust in idols are foolish. Idols are their own creations, things they made with their own hands, but they turn around and say, "These idols are our creators." How can these people say that something they made is their creator? Moreover, they guard their idols, so that they will not be stolen by thieves. What foolishness! If idols cannot guard and protect themselves, how can they guard and save others?
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Commentary on Chapter XVII 1. Damascus - Both of that city and kingdom. A heap - This was fulfilled by Tiglath-pilneser, 2 Kings xvi, 9, although afterwards it was re-edified.
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
15 ); to bring us to this is the design of his providence as he is our Maker and the work of his grace as he is the Holy One of Israel. (2.) They shall look off from their idols, the creatures of their own fancy, shall no longer worship them, and seek to them, and expect relief from them.
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Not look - Not trust to them, or to worship offered to idols upon them. The work - Their own inventions. Groves - Which were devised by men, as fit places for the worship of their gods.
And he shall not took to the altars, the work of his hands,.... That is, to altars erected to the worship of idols, which are both the works of men's hands, so as to serve at them, and sacrifice upon them.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The altars, the work of his hands “The altars dedicated to the work of his hands” - The construction of the words, and the meaning of the sentence, in this place are not obvious; all the ancient Versions, and most of the modern, have mistaken it. The word מעשה maaseh, “the work,” stands in regimine with מזבחות mizbechoth, “altars,” not in opposition to it; it means the, altars of the work of their hand; that is of the idols, which are the work of their hands. Thus Kimchi has explained it, and Le Clerc has followed him.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
groves--A symbolical tree is often found in Assyrian inscriptions, representing the hosts of heaven ("Saba"), answering to Ashteroth or Astarte, the queen of heaven, as Baal or Bel is the king.
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A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And he shall not look to the altars - That is, the altars of the gods which the Syrians worshipped, and the altars of the false gods which had been erected in the land of Israel or Samaria by its wicked kings, and particularly by Ahaz. Ahaz fancied an altar which he saw at Damascus when on a visit to Tiglath-pileser, and ordered Urijah the priest to construct one like it in Samaria, on which he subsequently offered sacrifice 2Ki 16:10-13. It is well known, also, that the kings of Israel and Judah often reared altars to false gods in the high places and the groves of the land (see 2Ki 21:3-5). The Ephraimites were particularly guilty in this respect Hos 8:11: ‘Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.’ Which his fingers have made - Perhaps indicating that the idols which they worshipped had been constructed with special art and skill (see Isa 2:8). Either the groves - The altars of idols were usually erected in groves, and idols were worshipped there before temples were raised (see Exo 34:13; Deu 7:5; Deu 12:3; Jdg 3:7; 1Ki 14:23; 1Ki 18:19; 2Ch 33:3; compare the notes at Isa 1:29). Or the images - Margin, ‘Sun images’ (חמנים chamānı̂ym). This word is used to denote idols in general in Lev 26:30; 2Ch 24:4. But it is supposed to denote properly images erected to the sun, and to be derived from חמה chamāh, “the sun.” Thus the word is used in Job 30:28; Isa 24:23; Isa 30:26; Son 6:10. The word, according to Gesenius, is of Persian origin (Commentary in loc.) The sun was undoubtedly worshipped by the ancient idolaters, and altars or images would be erected to it (see the notes at Job 31:26).
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִשְׁעֶ֔ה | yisheh | he will look | H8159 → | 15 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַֽמִּזְבְּח֖וֹת | hamizbechot | the altars | H4196 → | 401 times |
| מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה | maaseh | [the] work of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| יָדָ֑יו | yadav | hands his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וַאֲשֶׁ֨ר | vaasher | and [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשׂ֤וּ | ʾasu | they have made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶצְבְּעֹתָיו֙ | ʾetzbeotav | fingers his | H676 → | 31 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִרְאֶ֔ה | yireh | he will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְהָאֲשֵׁרִ֖ים | vehaasherim | and the Asherah poles | H842 → | |
| וְהָחַמָּנִֽים׃ | vehachamanim | and the incense altars | H2553 → |
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִשְׁעֶ֔הhe will look
yishehH8159 →15 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַֽמִּזְבְּח֖וֹתthe altars
hamizbechotH4196 →401 times
מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה[the] work of
maasehH4639 →236 times
יָדָ֑יוhands his
yadavH3027 →1618 times
וַאֲשֶׁ֨רand [that] which
vaasherH834 →5497 times
עָשׂ֤וּthey have made
ʾasuH6213 →2628 times
אֶצְבְּעֹתָיו֙fingers his
ʾetzbeotavH676 →31 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִרְאֶ֔הhe will see
yirehH7200 →1300 times
וְהָאֲשֵׁרִ֖יםand the Asherah poles
vehaasherimH842 →
וְהָחַמָּנִֽים׃and the incense altars
vehachamanimH2553 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Zechariah 13:2And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 22:22
And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ ‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
- Hosea 2:17
For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.
- Jeremiah 23:14–15
And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness.…
- Ezekiel 36:25
I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
- Exodus 23:13
Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.
- 1 Kings 22:22
Through
Isaiah 2:8Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
it leads to
- Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Psalms 115:4–8
Through
Isaiah 30:22So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”
it leads to
- Isaiah 31:7
For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.
- Judges 17:3–4
And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and…
- Isaiah 31:7
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Damascene, BARLAAM AND JOSEPH 10; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.