Isaiah 40:19
in Isaiah 40To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The image, a workman hath cast it, and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth for it silver chains.
KJV
The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
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This verse in Isaiah 40
Commentary
12 notes on this verse(Verse 18 and following) To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set before Him? Can the craftsman make a graven image, or the goldsmith overlay it with gold, and the silversmith spread silver plates upon it? Or perhaps the skilled craftsman chooses a piece of wood that will not rot and seeks out a proficient artisan to fashion an image that will not move.
This site's exposition
To whom will you liken God
on Isaiah 40:18-20
The question turns to their gods, To whom will you liken God? The answer comes as a workshop scene, an idol that a craftsman casts. A poorer man seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple, a rival to the God of verse 12.
This site's exposition
a metalworker overlays with gold
Barnes observes that the Hebrew word for craftsman covers any worker in wood, stone or metal. Most idols were cast in metal by trade. The verse follows one image from the craftsman who casts it to the metalworker who overlays it with gold and fits its silver chains.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
At the moment when he gave the law, the God of the universe transmitted his commands in these terms: "You shall not make for yourself an image or likeness of any thing, whether of things in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and …
(Verse 18 and following) To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set before Him? Can the craftsman make a graven image, or the goldsmith overlay it with gold, and the silversmith spread silver plates upon it? Or perhaps the skilled craftsman chooses a piece of wood that will not rot and seeks out a proficient artisan to fashion an image that will not move. Having described the greatness of God and shown His power in part, and having compared the nations and islands to a drop from a bucket and a speck of dust on the scales, and having refuted the use of ashes and sacrificial ceremonies, he teaches those who follow that all the nations before Him are as nothing and are counted by Him as less than nothing. To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set before Him, who is a Spirit, who is in all things and is everywhere present, and who holds the earth in His hand as if it were a small container? At the same time, he derides the foolishness of nations, because the artisan, whether a blacksmith or a goldsmith or a silversmith, makes their own god and fastens it with nails and firmly establishes it so that it is not blown away by the gusts of wind. And this is what he introduces: a wise artisan has chosen a strong and incorruptible wood, which is called Amsuchan in Hebrew; this type of wood is incorruptible and is used especially for making idols. However, he says this so that, rejecting idols, the way of the Gospel may be followed, and all wrongs may be made right; the valleys may be lifted up, and the hills may be brought low; and the glory of the Lord may be revealed, so that all flesh may see the salvation of God. […]
What art can produce an imitation of him who precisely is boundless?
The Medieval Church1 voice
And as to the foolish work, that they wished to introduce the noblest form into base matter: has the workman cast a graven statue? They gave the incommunicable name to stones and wood (Wis 14:21).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): "Look upon the better sort of them, which rich people set up, and worship; they are made of some base metal, cast into what shape the founder pleases, and that is gilded, or overlaid with plates of gold, that it may pass for a golden image. It is a creature; for the workman made it; therefore it is not God, Hos. viii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The workman melteth a graven image,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The workman - The Hebrew word denotes an artificer of any kind, and is applied to one who engraved on wood or stone Exo 28:2; to a workman in iron, brass, stone, wood Exo 35:35; Deu 27:15; or an artisan, or artificer in general. It here refers manifestly to a man who worked in the metals of which idols were commonly made. Those idols were sometimes made of wood, sometimes of clay, but more frequently, as they are at present in India, of metal. It became, undoubtedly, a regular trade or business thus to make idol-gods.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
graven--rather, an image in general; for it is incongruous to say "melteth" (that is, casts out of metal) a graven image (that is, one of carved wood); so Jer 10:14, "molten image." spreadeth it over--(See on Isa 30:22). chains--an ornament lavishly worn by rich Orientals (Isa 3:18, 19), and so transferred to their idols.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
And casteth silver chains “And forgeth for it chains of silver” - For צורף tsoreph, the participle, twenty-seven MSS., five ancient, and three editions, read צרף tsaraph, pret. third person.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַפֶּ֙סֶל֙ | hapesel | the idol | H6459 → | 31 times |
| נָסַ֣ךְ | nasakh | he has cast | H5258 → | 25 times |
| חָרָ֔שׁ | charash | a craftsman | H2796 → | 37 times |
| וְצֹרֵ֖ף | vetzoref | and a metalsmith | H6884 → | 33 times |
| בַּזָּהָ֣ב | bazahav | with <the> gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| יְרַקְּעֶ֑נּוּ | yerakkeenu | he will overlay it | H7554 → | 11 times |
| וּרְתֻק֥וֹת | uretukot | and chains of | H7577 → | |
| כֶּ֖סֶף | kesef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| צוֹרֵֽף׃ | tzoref | [is] refining | H6884 → | 33 times |
הַפֶּ֙סֶל֙the idol
hapeselH6459 →31 times
נָסַ֣ךְhe has cast
nasakhH5258 →25 times
חָרָ֔שׁa craftsman
charashH2796 →37 times
וְצֹרֵ֖ףand a metalsmith
vetzorefH6884 →33 times
בַּזָּהָ֣בwith <the> gold
bazahavH2091 →389 times
יְרַקְּעֶ֑נּוּhe will overlay it
yerakkeenuH7554 →11 times
וּרְתֻק֥וֹתand chains of
uretukotH7577 →
כֶּ֖סֶףsilver
kesefH3701 →403 times
צוֹרֵֽף׃[is] refining
tzorefH6884 →33 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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 10:9Hammered 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.
it leads to
- Psalms 115:4
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Daniel 10:5
I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
- 1 Kings 10:22
For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
- Ezekiel 27:12
Tarshish was your merchant because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares.
- Psalms 115:4
Through
Judges 17:4So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And…
it leads to
- Isaiah 46:6–7
They 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.
- Jeremiah 10:9–10
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.
- Isaiah 46:6–7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 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); 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; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:40.18; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:40.19 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.