Isaiah 46:6
in Isaiah 46They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Such as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god; they fall down, yea, they worship.
KJV
They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
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This verse in Isaiah 46
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd despite my exhortation you delayed in expelling such blasphemy and ungodliness, daring to compare me with those who lack being and in no way have my divinity. You esteemed me as equal to soulless wood that you shaped. You added gold and silver from contributions and made a statue from human hands, and you were not ashamed to worship it. These idols were not able to walk, let alone move, but they needed to be carried on your shoulders or dragged around by others. They are unable to hear prayers or to save.
This site's exposition
To whom will ye liken me
on Isaiah 46:5-7
The trial language turns direct, to whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? The answer is the idol factory itself, gold poured from a bag, silver weighed on a scale, a goldsmith hired to fashion a god that must then be carried into position and set on its feet. Once set, it cannot move from its place, and when a worshipper cries to it in trouble it cannot answer or save, a helplessness the older writers set beside the living God's opening question. Gill and Henry both press the mockery, a god men make and carry stands against a God who makes and carries his people, the chapter's whole argument in one comparison.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 5 and following) To whom have you likened me, and equalized, and compared me, and made me similar? You who pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver on the scales, hiring a goldsmith to make a god, and they fall down and worship. They carry him on their shoulders, carrying and placing him in his place, and he will stand, and he will not be moved from his place. But when they cry out to him, he will not hear: he will not save them from distress. LXX: To whom do you liken me?
[Isaiah] has clearly mocked the impotence of the idols. And since he had made mention of their creation from a piece of wood in a preceding passage, but gold and silver are more precious material than wood, and many people on account of the material …
The Medieval Church1 voice
And as to their service, for they employed craftsmen to make gods from gold, because they are like misers who store up gold for ages: you that contribute gold: the works of the hand of the workman (Jer 10:3).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They lavish gold out of the bag,.... As if it was of no value and account; that is, the Heathen idolaters, some of them, who are excessively devoted to idolatry; these, being rich, take out their bags of gold, and give it in a very profuse manner to a workman to make a golden image for them, not caring what it cost them; such an one was that which Nebuchadnezzar made, sixty cubits high, and six broad, Dan 3:1 see an instance of profuseness this way in the Israelites themselves, Exo 32:
They weigh silver in the balance, either to be the matter of their idol (for even those that were most sottish had so much sense as to think that God should be served with the best they had, the best they could possibly afford; those that represented him by a calf made it a golden one) or to pay the workmen's wages. The service of sin often proves very expensive.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They lavish gold - The word used here means properly to shake out; and then to pour out abundantly, or in a lavish manner. It is used in connection with the idea of squandering in Deu 21:20; Pro 23:21; Pro 28:7. Here the idea is, that they spared no expense; they poured out gold as if it were vile and worthless, in order to make an idol.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
41:7.) They lavish gold out of their purses and spare no expense for their idol. Their profuseness shames the niggardliness of professors who worship God with what cost them nothing. Sin is always a costly service.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַזָּלִ֤ים | hazalim | those [who] pour out | H2107 → | |
| זָהָב֙ | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| מִכִּ֔יס | mikis | from a bag | H3599 → | |
| וְכֶ֖סֶף | vekhesef | and silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| בַּקָּנֶ֣ה | bakaneh | on <the> scale[s] | H7070 → | 62 times |
| יִשְׁקֹ֑לוּ | yishkolu | they weigh out | H8254 → | 22 times |
| יִשְׂכְּר֤וּ | yiskeru | they hire | H7936 → | |
| צוֹרֵף֙ | tzoref | a metalsmith | H6884 → | 33 times |
| וְיַעֲשֵׂ֣הוּ | veyaasehu | and he makes it | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֵ֔ל | ʾel | a god | H410 → | 241 times |
| יִסְגְּד֖וּ | yisgedu | they prostrate themselves | H5456 → | 5 times |
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| יִֽשְׁתַּחֲוּֽוּ׃ | yishtachavu | they bow down | H7812 → | 172 times |
הַזָּלִ֤יםthose [who] pour out
hazalimH2107 →
זָהָב֙gold
zahavH2091 →389 times
מִכִּ֔יסfrom a bag
mikisH3599 →
וְכֶ֖סֶףand silver
vekhesefH3701 →403 times
בַּקָּנֶ֣הon <the> scale[s]
bakanehH7070 →62 times
יִשְׁקֹ֑לוּthey weigh out
yishkoluH8254 →22 times
יִשְׂכְּר֤וּthey hire
yiskeruH7936 →
צוֹרֵף֙a metalsmith
tzorefH6884 →33 times
וְיַעֲשֵׂ֣הוּand he makes it
veyaasehuH6213 →2628 times
אֵ֔לa god
ʾelH410 →241 times
יִסְגְּד֖וּthey prostrate themselves
yisgeduH5456 →5 times
אַף־also
ʾaf-H637 →134 times
יִֽשְׁתַּחֲוּֽוּ׃they bow down
yishtachavuH7812 →172 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
Jeremiah 10:14Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
it leads to
- Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 135:16–18
They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
- Isaiah 46:7–8
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…
- 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.
- Isaiah 44:18–20
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Psalms 115:4–8
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
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:31; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 14:46.7 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.