Isaiah 44:13
in Isaiah 44The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.
KJV
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
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This verse in Isaiah 44
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The carpenter - The axe is made Isa 44:12, and the carpenter now proceeds to the construction of the god. Stretcheth out his rule - For the purpose of laying out his work, or measuring it. The word rendered here ‘rule,’ however (קו qâv), means properly “a line”; and should be so rendered here. The carpenter stretches out a line, but not a rule. He marketh it out with a line - He marks out the shape; the length, and breadth, and thickness of the body, in the rough and unhewn piece of wood.
This site's exposition
The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals
on Isaiah 44:12-17
The smith with the tongs and the carpenter with his rule and compass are described at length, real trades exactly rendered, and the satire's edge is that the smith grows hungry and faint making a god that cannot feed him. The carpenter fells a cedar or a cypress or plants an ash and lets the rain grow it, the same tree serving two uses the verses lay side by side without comment. He burns part of the very same log to warm himself and bake his bread, and carves the residue into a god before which he falls down and prays, Deliver me; for thou art my god, the wood not changing though its use has. Barnes reads the flat listing of both uses in one breath as the sharpest irony in the whole satire, sharper than any direct accusation could be.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 6 and following) This is what the Lord, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts, says: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides me. Who is like me? Let him call and declare, and lay out the order for me, since I established the ancient people: what is coming and what will happen, let them declare to them. Do not be afraid, nor be troubled: from that time I have made you hear and announced it; you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me, and a creator whom I do not know? All the idols of the nations are worthless, and the things they love do not profit them. They themselves are witnesses to their own worthlessness, for they do not see or understand, so that they may be put to shame. Who formed a god or cast an idol that is profitable for nothing? Look, all his companions shall be put to shame; the craftsmen are mere men. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The blacksmith takes a tool and works it with the coals; he fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He will be hungry and will become weak, he will not drink water, and he will grow weary. The carpenter extends the rule (or the form), he shapes it on the plane, he forms it with angles, and rounds it off with a compass. And he makes an image of a man, like a handsome man dwelling in a house. He cuts down cedars, he takes an oak, and a tree that stood among the woods. He plants a pine, which the rain nourishes, and it becomes fuel for men. He takes from them, and warms himself; he kindles it, and bakes bread. But the rest of it he made into a god and worshipped; he made an idol and bowed down to it. He burned half of it in the fire and cooked meat on it; he roasted a stew and ate it, and then he was satisfied. He warmed himself and said, 'Ah! […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, as to idols which are made from wood: the carpenter. And first, he shows the worthlessness of the idol, setting out its efficient cause with his tools: his rule, for making the wood straight; a plane, an instrument curved back from the side for …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The form in which it is made is that of a man, a poor, weak, dying creature; but it is the noblest form and figure that he is acquainted with, and, being his own, he has a peculiar fondness for it and is willing to put all the reputation he can upon it.
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Or best, the stylus or graver, with which the incision of the outline is made [GESENIUS]. planes--rather, "chisels" or "carving tools," for a plane would not answer for carving. compass--from a Hebrew root, "to make a circle"; by it, symmetry of form is secured. according to . . . beauty of a man--irony.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The carpenter And if he comes to make it of wood, and he is a carpenter, the following is his method.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָרַ֣שׁ | charash | a craftsman of | H2796 → | 37 times |
| עֵצִים֮ | ʾetzim | wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
| נָ֣טָה | natah | he stretches out | H5186 → | 214 times |
| קָו֒ | kav | a measuring-line | H6957 → | 21 times |
| יְתָאֲרֵ֣הוּ | yetaarehu | he outlines it | H8388 → | |
| בַשֶּׂ֔רֶד | vasered | with <the> marker | H8279 → | |
| יַעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙ | yaasehu | he works it | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בַּמַּקְצֻע֔וֹת | bamaktzuot | with <the> scraping tools | H4741 → | |
| וּבַמְּחוּגָ֖ה | uvamechugah | and with <the> compass | H4230 → | |
| יְתָאֳרֵ֑הוּ | yetoorehu | he outlines it | H8388 → | |
| וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙ | vaiyaasehu | and he made it | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כְּתַבְנִ֣ית | ketavnit | like [the] form of | H8403 → | |
| אִ֔ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כְּתִפְאֶ֥רֶת | ketiferet | like [the] beauty of | H8597 → | 51 times |
| אָדָ֖ם | ʾadam | a man | H120 → | 551 times |
| לָשֶׁ֥בֶת | lashevet | to dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָּֽיִת׃ | bayit | a house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
חָרַ֣שׁa craftsman of
charashH2796 →37 times
עֵצִים֮wood<s>
ʾetzimH6086 →328 times
נָ֣טָהhe stretches out
natahH5186 →214 times
קָו֒a measuring-line
kavH6957 →21 times
יְתָאֲרֵ֣הוּhe outlines it
yetaarehuH8388 →
בַשֶּׂ֔רֶדwith <the> marker
vaseredH8279 →
יַעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙he works it
yaasehuH6213 →2628 times
בַּמַּקְצֻע֔וֹתwith <the> scraping tools
bamaktzuotH4741 →
וּבַמְּחוּגָ֖הand with <the> compass
uvamechugahH4230 →
יְתָאֳרֵ֑הוּhe outlines it
yetoorehuH8388 →
וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙and he made it
vaiyaasehuH6213 →2628 times
כְּתַבְנִ֣יתlike [the] form of
ketavnitH8403 →
אִ֔ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כְּתִפְאֶ֥רֶתlike [the] beauty of
ketiferetH8597 →51 times
אָדָ֖םa man
ʾadamH120 →551 times
לָשֶׁ֥בֶתto dwell
lashevetH3427 →1079 times
בָּֽיִת׃a house
bayitH1004 →2046 times
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
Romans 1:23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
it leads to
- Psalms 106:20
They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.
- Jeremiah 2:11
Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- Acts 17:29
Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
- 1 Peter 4:3
For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
- Psalms 115:5–8
They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
- Psalms 106:20
Through
Acts 17:29Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:25
“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Exodus 20:4
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Isaiah 46:5–6
To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
- Isaiah 40:25
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.