Isaiah 37:19
in Isaiah 37They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.
KJV
And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
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This verse in Isaiah 37
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And have cast their gods into the fire - This appears to have been the usual policy of the Assyrians and Babylonians. It was contrary to the policy which the Romans afterward pursued, for they admitted the gods of other nations among their own, and even allowed them to have a place in the Pantheon. Their design seems not to have been to alienate the feelings of the vanquished, but to make them feel that they were a part of the same people.
This site's exposition
have laid waste all these countries
on Isaiah 37:18-20
The prayer concedes the letter's facts, and explains them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone. The petition rests on that concession, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God. Deliverance is asked as a public demonstration.
This site's exposition
They have cast their gods into the fire
Barnes notes that burning the gods of the conquered was Assyria's settled policy, while Rome later gave foreign gods a place in its Pantheon. Hezekiah grants the letter its facts. The idols fell because they were wood and stone, and the LORD made the heavens and the earth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 14ff.) And Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and he read them, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and he spread them out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, saying: Lord, God of hosts, God of Israel, who resides above the cherubim, you are the only God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to blaspheme the living God.
The Medieval Church1 voice
He proves with this the foolishness of his blasphemy: for of a truth, O Lord: the idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men (Ps 113:12[115:4]).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And, have cast their gods into the fire..... And burnt them; and it may well be asked, where are they?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
cast . . . gods into . . . fire--The policy of the Assyrians in order to alienate the conquered peoples from their own countries was, both to deport them elsewhere, and to destroy the tutelary idols of their nation, the strongest tie which bound them to their native land. The Roman policy was just the reverse.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Indeed, O Lord It is true that the kings of Assyria destroyed
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. 7 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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָתֹ֥ן | venaton | and they have put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾeloheihem | gods their | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בָּאֵ֑שׁ | baesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֨א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֜ים | ʾelohim | [were] gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הֵ֗מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| מַעֲשֵׂ֧ה | maaseh | [the] work of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| יְדֵֽי־ | yedei- | [the] hands of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אָדָ֛ם | ʾadam | a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| עֵ֥ץ | ʾetz | wood | H6086 → | 328 times |
| וָאֶ֖בֶן | vaeven | and stone | H68 → | 273 times |
| וַֽיְאַבְּדֽוּם׃ | vayabedum | and they destroyed them | H6 → | 184 times |
וְנָתֹ֥ןand they have put
venatonH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖םgods their
ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 times
בָּאֵ֑שׁin the fire
baeshH784 →378 times
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֨אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֱלֹהִ֜ים[were] gods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
הֵ֗מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
מַעֲשֵׂ֧ה[the] work of
maasehH4639 →236 times
יְדֵֽי־[the] hands of
yedei-H3027 →1618 times
אָדָ֛םa person
ʾadamH120 →551 times
עֵ֥ץwood
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
וָאֶ֖בֶןand stone
vaevenH68 →273 times
וַֽיְאַבְּדֽוּם׃and they destroyed them
vayabedumH6 →184 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 10:11Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
it leads to
- Psalms 96:5
For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
- Isaiah 2:18
and the idols will vanish completely.
- Zephaniah 2:11
The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.
- Jeremiah 10:15
They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
- Lamentations 3:66
You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them from under Your heavens, O LORD.
- Psalms 96:5
Through
Isaiah 26:14The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.
it leads to
- Revelation 18:2–3
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
- Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Revelation 18:2–3
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…
- 1 Chronicles 14:11–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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; 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.