Isaiah 46:2
in Isaiah 46The gods cower; they crouch together, unable to relieve the burden; but they themselves go into captivity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
KJV
They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
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This verse in Isaiah 46
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThey could not deliver the burden “They could not deliver their own charge” - That is, their worshippers, who ought to have been borne by them. See the two next verses. The Chaldee and Syriac Versions render it in effect to the same purpose, those that bear them, meaning their worshippers; but how they can render משא massa in an active sense, I do not understand. For לא lo, not, ולא velo, and they could not, is the reading of twenty-four of Kennicott’s, sixteen of De Rossi’s, and two of my own MSS.
This site's exposition
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers
on Isaiah 46:1-4
Babylon’s gods, Bel and Nebo, appear as cargo, “Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle”, and verse 2 says the gods themselves “go into captivity”. In verse 4 the LORD turns the verb around, “I have made you, and I will carry you”. This contrast runs through the chapter.
This site's exposition
unable to relieve the burden
Clarke reads the burden as the idols' own charge, the worshipers they were supposed to carry. The Chaldee and Syriac versions render it the same way. The gods cannot relieve their people, and in the end the gods themselves go into captivity with them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Here [Isaiah] argues that the idols are weak since they will be carried into slavery as the cargo of elephants and even the burden of mules. And the people who carry them will bow low to put them on their shoulders. How can someone bearing …
(Chapter 46, Verses 1, 2.) Bel is broken, Nabo is crushed. Their idols have become beasts and livestock, burdening you with heavy loads until exhaustion. They have melted together and crumbled. They could not save those who carried them, and their souls will go into captivity. Seventy: Bel has fallen, Dagon is crushed. Their statues have become beasts and livestock, bound together as a burden for the laboring, the weak, and the hungry, unable to prevail together. They could not save from war. However, they themselves were led away as captives. After the calling of the Gentiles and the election of the believers from Israel, it is testified that the idols have fallen. Bel has fallen, indeed, he has fallen, or Saturn has been broken: whom the Greeks call Belus and the Latins call Saturn. So great was the reverence for him among the ancients that they not only offered him the human sacrifices of captive and lowly mortals, but also sacrificed their own children to him. But now even that idol itself, which is interpreted as prophecy and divination, signifies that it has fallen silent throughout the whole world after the truth of the Gospel. Or, according to the Septuagint, Dagon, which, however, is not found in Hebrew. And it is the idol of Ashkelon, Gaza, and the other cities of the Philistines. And from a specific case it passes to a general one: their images were made in the form of beasts and animals. Not that the images of the Gentiles were exposed as prey to beasts and animals, but that the religion of the nations is such that the images are of beasts and brute animals, which are especially consecrated to divine worship in Egypt. […]
By the same token, [Isaiah] says, as all the other burdens that are unable to walk but have to be carried, the idols, by reason of their inanimate nature, constrain their porters to toil. Their impotence is so great that they cannot even—as people do …
The Medieval Church1 voice
He sets out the lack of aid on the part of the idols: they are consumed, that is, they fail, namely, the idols, him that carried them, namely, the beasts, or the men worshipping them: that which is made, together with him that made it, …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): They stoop, they bow down together. They are all alike, tottering things, and their day has come to fall. Their worshippers cannot help them: They could not deliver the burden out of the enemy's hand, but themselves (both the idols and the idolaters) have gone into captivity.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They stoop, they bow together,....
The carriers' horses, or mules, are laden with them and their other idols, to be sent among other lumber (for so it seems they accounted them rather than treasure) into Persia. So far are they from being able to support their worshippers that they are themselves a heavy load in the wagons, and a burden to the weary beast.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
THE confidence of Babylon is buried among her heaps of rubbish for her gods have fallen from their thrones. "Bel bows down, Nebo stoops." As for us, Beloved, our trust is in the living God who lives to bear and carry His chosen, even in Jehovah, the only true Lord. We begin our spiritual life by faith in Him, for till faith comes we have no power to become the sons of God. Our spiritual life will have to be continued in the same way of trust in the Lord, "for the just shall live by faith."
THE confidence of Babylon is buried among her heaps of rubbish for her gods have fallen from their thrones. "Bel bows down, Nebo stoops." As for us, Beloved, our trust is in the living God who lives to bear and carry His chosen, even in Jehovah, the only true Lord. We begin our spiritual life by faith in Him, for till faith comes we have no power to become the sons of God. Our spiritual life will have to be continued in the same way of trust in the Lord, "for the just shall live by faith." We live by faith upon the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us. We rejoice that we shall never have to change our confidence, for our God will never be carried into captivity, nor torn from His Throne. Our faith is built upon a rock that can never be moved. Nothing in the past has shaken the foundation of our faith. Nothing in the present can move it. Nothing in the future will undermine it. Whatever may occur in the ages to come, there will always be good reason for believing in Jehovah and His faithful Word. The great Truths which He has revealed will never be disproved. The great promises He has made will never be retracted. The great purposes He has devised will never be abandoned. So long as we live, so long shall we have a refuge, a hope, a confidence, that can never be removed— "His sovereign mercy knows no end, His faithfulness shall still endure; And those who on His Word depend Shall find His Word forever sure." That part of our text which says, "Even to your old age I am He. And even to hoar hairs will I carry you," may seem to be a promise made to old age. So, indeed, it is. Many a hoary saint has made a soft pillow of this precious promise and has rested upon it with delight in the days of his decay. But yet the text, if it is rightly read, is a promise to the people of God at any and every period between their birth and their death.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They stoop - Bel, and Nebo, and all the Babylonian gods (see Isa 46:1). They could not deliver the burden - The word ‘burden’ here, probably means the load of metal, wood, and stone, of which the idols were composed. The gods whom the Babylonians worshipped had not even power to protect the images which were made to represent them, and which had now become a heavy burden to the animals and wains which were carrying them away. They could not rescue them from the hands of the conqueror; and how unable were they, therefore, to defend those who put their trust in them. The Vulgate renders this, ‘They could not deliver him that bare them.’ The Septuagint, ‘You are carrying them like a burden bound on the weary, faint, and hungry; who are all without strength, and unable to escape from battle; and as for them, they are carried away captives!’ But themselves - Margin, as Hebrew, ‘Their soul.’ The sense is, that the gods thus worshipped, so far from being able to defend those who worshipped them, had themselves become captive, and were borne to a distant land.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
they could not deliver the burden to discharge the feces in their bowels as others discharge, in the normal manner.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Bel squats; Nebo soils himself The deities of Babylon squatted and soiled themselves. This is an expression of ridicule of the idols, like one who suffers from diarrhea and does not manage to sit down on the seat in the privy before he discharges with a splash.
Bel is bowed down, Nebo is cut down. Their images are in the likeness of serpents and beasts. The burdens of your idols shall be heavy upon those who carry them; because they be exhausted
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. 2 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קָרְס֤וּ | karesu | they have stooped low | H7164 → | |
| כָֽרְעוּ֙ | khareu | they have bowed down | H3766 → | 36 times |
| יַחְדָּ֔ו | yachdav | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָכְל֖וּ | yakhelu | they have been able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| מַלֵּ֣ט | malet | to rescue | H4422 → | 95 times |
| מַשָּׂ֑א | masa' | a burden | H4853 → | 66 times |
| וְנַפְשָׁ֖ם | venafsham | and self their | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בַּשְּׁבִ֥י | bashevi | in <the> captivity | H7628 → | 49 times |
| הָלָֽכָה׃ ס | halakhah | it has gone | H1980 → | 1546 times |
קָרְס֤וּthey have stooped low
karesuH7164 →
כָֽרְעוּ֙they have bowed down
khareuH3766 →36 times
יַחְדָּ֔וtogether
yachdavH3162 →141 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָכְל֖וּthey have been able
yakheluH3201 →194 times
מַלֵּ֣טto rescue
maletH4422 →95 times
מַשָּׂ֑אa burden
masa'H4853 →66 times
וְנַפְשָׁ֖םand self their
venafshamH5315 →754 times
בַּשְּׁבִ֥יin <the> captivity
basheviH7628 →49 times
הָלָֽכָה׃ סit has gone
halakhahH1980 →1546 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
Judges 18:24He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
it leads to
- Habakkuk 2:18–19
What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
- Psalms 115:8
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- Habakkuk 2:18–19
Through
Jeremiah 48:7Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.
it leads to
- Numbers 21:29
Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
- Psalms 52:7
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Jeremiah 49:3
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; run back and forth within your walls, for Milcom will go into exile together with…
- Jeremiah 9:23
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- Numbers 21:29
Through
2 Samuel 5:21There the Philistines abandoned their idols, and David and his men carried them away.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 14:11–12
So David and his men went up to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, God has burst out against my enemies by my hand.” So they called that…
- Deuteronomy 7:5
Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
- 1 Chronicles 14:11–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 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); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2056: “Idols Found Wanting, But Jehovah Found Faithful” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Procopius of Gaza, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 46:1.5; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 14:46.2 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.