Isaiah 44:14
in Isaiah 44He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm-tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth a fir-tree, and the rain doth nourish it.
KJV
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
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This verse in Isaiah 44
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAs to its material cause: he has cut down cedars, which are also used for base purposes: the works of the hand of the workman has cut a tree out of the forest (Jer 10:3).
This site's exposition
The blacksmith takes a tool
on Isaiah 44:12-17
The blacksmith and the woodworker are described at length, and the smith grows hungry making a god that cannot feed him. The woodworker cuts down cedars. He burns half of it, and from the rest he makes a god and prays to it, Save me, for you are my god.
This site's exposition
He cuts down cedars
Matthew Henry pictures the idol-maker choosing the tallest tree of the forest, or planting a quicker tree of his own and waiting on the rain. His god owes its very growth to rain from heaven. Aquinas points to Jeremiah 10:3, where the idol is a tree cut from the forest.
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 Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Or, as some read it, which hath strengthened or lifted up itself among the trees of the forest, the tallest and strongest he can pick out. Or, it may be, it pleases his fancy better to take an ash, which is of a quicker growth, and which was of his own planting for this use, and which has been nourished with rain from heaven.
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Description of the material out of which the idol is formed. cypress--rather, from Hebrew root, "to be hard," the holm oak," an evergreen abundant in Palestine [GESENIUS]. strengtheneth--literally, "and he getteth strength to himself in the trees of the forest;" that is, he layeth in a great store of timber [LOWTH].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
He heweth him down “He heweth down” - For לכרת lichroth, the Septuagint and Vulgate read כרת carath or יכרת yichroth.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He heweth him down cedars - In the previous verses, the prophet had described the formation of an axe with which the work was to be done Isa 44:12, and the laying out, and carving of the idol Isa 44:13. In this verse he proceeds to describe the material of which the idol was made, and the different purposes Isa 44:15-17 to which that material was applied.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לִכְרָת־ | likhrot- | to cut down | H3772 → | 288 times |
| ל֣וֹ | lo | for <the> himself | ||
| אֲרָזִ֔ים | ʾarazim | cedars | H730 → | 73 times |
| וַיִּקַּ֤ח | vaiyikach | and he took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| תִּרְזָה֙ | tirzah | a cypress | H8645 → | |
| וְאַלּ֔וֹן | vealon | and an oak | H437 → | 8 times |
| וַיְאַמֶּץ־ | vayametz- | and he strengthened [it] | H553 → | 41 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | for <the> himself | ||
| בַּעֲצֵי־ | baatzei- | among [the] trees of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| יָ֑עַר | yaar | [the] forest | H3293 → | 59 times |
| נָטַ֥ע | nata' | he plants | H5193 → | 58 times |
| אֹ֖רֶן | ʾoren | laurel | H766 → | |
| וְגֶ֥שֶׁם | vegeshem | and rain | H1653 → | |
| יְגַדֵּֽל׃ | yegadel | it makes [it] grow | H1431 → | 117 times |
לִכְרָת־to cut down
likhrot-H3772 →288 times
ל֣וֹfor <the> himself
lo
אֲרָזִ֔יםcedars
ʾarazimH730 →73 times
וַיִּקַּ֤חand he took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
תִּרְזָה֙a cypress
tirzahH8645 →
וְאַלּ֔וֹןand an oak
vealonH437 →8 times
וַיְאַמֶּץ־and he strengthened [it]
vayametz-H553 →41 times
ל֖וֹfor <the> himself
lo
בַּעֲצֵי־among [the] trees of
baatzei-H6086 →328 times
יָ֑עַר[the] forest
yaarH3293 →59 times
נָטַ֥עhe plants
nata'H5193 →58 times
אֹ֖רֶןlaurel
ʾorenH766 →
וְגֶ֥שֶׁםand rain
vegeshemH1653 →
יְגַדֵּֽל׃it makes [it] grow
yegadelH1431 →117 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
Habakkuk 2:19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
it leads to
- Psalms 135:17
they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths.
- Jeremiah 10:4
They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
- Jeremiah 10:9
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
- Psalms 135:17
Through
Hosea 4:12My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:27
say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble…
- Hosea 5:4
Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for a spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the LORD.
- Jeremiah 2:27
Through
Isaiah 40:20To one bereft of an offering who chooses wood that will not rot, who seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple?
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:7
The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.
- Jeremiah 10:3–4
For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
- Isaiah 46:7
They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not…
- Isaiah 41:7
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.