Isaiah 44:12
in Isaiah 44The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The smith maketh an axe, and worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint.
KJV
The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
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This verse in Isaiah 44
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe smith with the tongs, etc. “The smith cutteth off a portion of iron” - מעצד meatstsed, Participium Pihel of עצד atsad, to cut; still used in that sense in the Arabic. See Simonis Lex. Hebrews The Septuagint and Syriac take the word in this form: but they render it sharpeneth the iron. See Castell. Lex. in voce. The sacred writers are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry; they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light.
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
[Isaiah] has demonstrated that the production of these so-called gods relies on contributions. Their creator needs the blacksmith to prepare the tools and the whetstone for sharpening them; for his part, the bronzesmith needs coal and fire, while the constructor of the objects needs food …
(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 Medieval Church2 voices
The smith. Here he shows their worthlessness, that not only are they not gods, but even worthless things. And first, he sets out the manner of their formation as to idols made from metal: with the strength of his arm, that is, striking strong blows; …
"He becomes hungry, and his strength fails." The first reason for the making of idols is the need of their makers. They are hungry and thirsty and have no food, and, therefore, they make idols, so that their need may be satisfied, thanks to what …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Perhaps it was a piece of superstition among them for the workman not to eat or drink while he was making a god. The plates with which the smith was to cover the image, or whatever iron-work was to be done about it, he fashioned with hammers, and made it all very exact, according to the model given him.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The smith with the tongs,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
tongs--rather, "prepareth (to be supplied) an axe," namely, with which to cut down the tree designed as the material of the idol. The "smith" (Hebrew, "workman in iron") here answers to the "carpenter" (Hebrew, "workman in wood"). "He worketh it (the axe, not the idol, which was wood, not metal) in the coals," &c.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The smith with the tongs - The prophet proceeds here to show the folly and absurdity of idolatry; and in order to this he goes into an extended statement Isa 44:12-19 of the manner in which idols were usually made. Lowth remarks, ‘The sacred writers are generally large and eloquent on the subject of idolatry; they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah far exceeds anything that was ever written on the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the Apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success (Wisd. 13:11-19; 15:7; etc.; Baruch 6) Horace, however, has given a description of the making of idols, which, for severity of satire, and pungency of sarcasm, has a strong resemblance to this description in Isaiah: Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum; Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum Maluit esse Deum. Sat. I. viii. 1-3. Lowth renders the phrase ‘the smith with the tongs,’ ‘The smith cutteth off a portion of iron.’ Noyes, ‘The smith prepareth an axe’ The Septuagint, ‘The carpenter sharpeneth (ὤζυνε ōzune) iron’ (σίδηρον sidēron), that is, an axe. So also the Syriac. Gesenius renders it, ‘The smith makes an axe.’ Many other renderings of the passage have been proposed. The idea in this verse is, I think, that the prophet describes the commencement of the process of making a graven image. For that purpose, he goes back even to the making of the instruments by which it is manufactured, and in this verse he describes the process of making an axe, with a view to the cutting down of the tree, and forming a god. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Behold, all his colleagues of that fashioner and molder of graven images, who join him to worship his creation and his molten image, shall be ashamed.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָרַ֤שׁ | charash | a craftsman of | H2796 → | 37 times |
| בַּרְזֶל֙ | barzel | iron | H1270 → | 76 times |
| מַֽעֲצָ֔ד | maatzad | a tool | H4621 → | |
| וּפָעַל֙ | ufaal | and he works [it] | H6466 → | 57 times |
| בַּפֶּחָ֔ם | bapecham | on the coal[s] | H6352 → | |
| וּבַמַּקָּב֖וֹת | uvammakavot | and with <the> hammers | H4717 → | |
| יִצְּרֵ֑הוּ | yitzerehu | he forms it | H3335 → | 62 times |
| וַיִּפְעָלֵ֙הוּ֙ | vaiyifalehu | and he worked it | H6466 → | 57 times |
| בִּזְר֣וֹעַ | bizroa' | with [the] arm of | H2220 → | 91 times |
| כֹּח֔וֹ | kocho | strength his | H3581 → | 126 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| רָעֵב֙ | raev | he is hungry | H7456 → | 13 times |
| וְאֵ֣ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| כֹּ֔חַ | koach | [is] strength | H3581 → | 126 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁ֥תָה | shatah | he drinks | H8354 → | 217 times |
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וַיִּיעָֽף׃ | vaiyiaf | and he grew weary | H3286 → | 9 times |
חָרַ֤שׁa craftsman of
charashH2796 →37 times
בַּרְזֶל֙iron
barzelH1270 →76 times
מַֽעֲצָ֔דa tool
maatzadH4621 →
וּפָעַל֙and he works [it]
ufaalH6466 →57 times
בַּפֶּחָ֔םon the coal[s]
bapechamH6352 →
וּבַמַּקָּב֖וֹתand with <the> hammers
uvammakavotH4717 →
יִצְּרֵ֑הוּhe forms it
yitzerehuH3335 →62 times
וַיִּפְעָלֵ֙הוּ֙and he worked it
vaiyifalehuH6466 →57 times
בִּזְר֣וֹעַwith [the] arm of
bizroa'H2220 →91 times
כֹּח֔וֹstrength his
kochoH3581 →126 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
רָעֵב֙he is hungry
raevH7456 →13 times
וְאֵ֣יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
כֹּ֔חַ[is] strength
koachH3581 →126 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁ֥תָהhe drinks
shatahH8354 →217 times
מַ֖יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
וַיִּיעָֽף׃and he grew weary
vaiyiafH3286 →9 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
Exodus 32:8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said,…
it leads to
- Exodus 20:23
You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
- 1 Kings 12:28
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
- Exodus 20:3–4
You shall have no other gods before Me.
- Deuteronomy 9:16
And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.
- Exodus 22:20
If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.
- Exodus 20:23
Through
Isaiah 40:19To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
it leads to
- 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.
- Judges 17:4
So 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…
- 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
Where this verse is studied
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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 44:12; 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 13:44.12 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.