Isaiah 44:14 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 44:14

He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm-tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth a fir-tree, and the rain doth nourish it.

KJV

He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.

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Commentary

2 voices

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah (1274)

As to its material cause: he has cut down cedars, which are also used for base purposes: the works of the hand of the workman has cut a tree out of the forest (Jer 10:3).

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Or, as some read it, which hath strengthened or lifted up itself among the trees of the forest, the tallest and strongest he can pick out. Or, it may be, it pleases his fancy better to take an ash, which is of a quicker growth, and which was of his own planting for this use, and which has been nourished with rain from heaven.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

14 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
לִכְרָת־	likh.rot-	to cut down	H3772 →
ל֣וֹ	lo	for <the> himself
אֲרָזִ֔ים	'a.ra.Zim	cedars	H730 →
וַיִּקַּ֤ח	vai.yi.Kach	and he took	H3947 →
תִּרְזָה֙	tir.Zah	a cypress	H8645 →
וְאַלּ֔וֹן	ve.'a.Lon	and an oak	H437 →
וַיְאַמֶּץ־	vay.'a.metz-	and he strengthened [it]	H553 →
ל֖וֹ	lo	for <the> himself
בַּעֲצֵי־	ba.'a.tzei-	among [the] trees of	H6086 →
יָ֑עַר	Ya.'ar	[the] forest	H3293 →
נָטַ֥ע	na.Ta'	he plants	H5193 →
אֹ֖רֶן	'O.ren	laurel	H766 →
וְגֶ֥שֶׁם	ve.Ge.shem	and rain	H1653 →
יְגַדֵּֽל׃	ye.ga.Del	it makes [it] grow	H1431 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Habakkuk 2:19
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
leads to
- Psalms 135:17
  they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths.
- Jeremiah 10:4
  They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
- 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.
Through
Hosea 4:12
My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
leads to
- Jeremiah 2:27
  say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble…
- Hosea 5:4
  Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for a spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the LORD.
Through
Isaiah 40:20
To one bereft of an offering who chooses wood that will not rot, who seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple?
leads to
- Isaiah 41:7
  The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.
- Jeremiah 10:3–4
  For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
- Isaiah 46:7
  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…

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About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 44 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 44 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah