Isaiah 44:11

Isa 44:11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they [are] of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; [yet] they shall fear, [and] they shall be ashamed together.

Ver. 11. Behold all his fellows.] His fellow fools.

Shall be ashamed.] They may be, well enough, of their madness: they shall be, sure enough, of their disappointments.

And the workmen, they are of men.] Not of angels or the heavenly virtues, saith Oecolampadius, but vile varlets.

Let them all be gathered together.] As were, at Ephesus, Demetrius and his associates. {Act 19:24-25}

Yet they shall fear.] As Tullus Hostilius did with his new gods Pavor and Pallor: as Papists do with their Valentine, Antony, Sebastian, &c., whom they worship as the senders of such and such diseases.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Signifying, that the multitude shall not then save the idolaters, when God will take vengeance, although they excuse themselves thereby among men.

That is, which by any way consent either to the making or worshipping.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

his fellows--the associates of him who makes an idol; or of the idol (see Deu 7:26; Psa 115:8; Hos 4:17).

they are of men--They are mortal men themselves; what better, then, can the idol be than its maker?

gathered together . . . stand up--as in a court of justice, to try the issue between God and them (see on Isa 41:1; Isa 41:21).

yet--wrongly inserted in English Version. The issue of the trial shall be, "they shall fear," &c.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. His fellows] חבריו chaberaiv: but עבדיו abadaiv, his servants or worshippers, is the reading of one of De Rossi's MSS., and of the Chaldee.

And the workmen, they are of men - "Even the workmen themselves shall blush"] I do not know that any one has ever yet interpreted these words to any tolerably good sense: וחרשים המה מאדם vecharashim hemmah meadam. The Vulgate and our translators, have rendered them very fairly, as they are written and pointed in the text: Fabri enim sunt ex hominibus. "And the workmen they are of men." Out of which the commentators have not been able to extract any thing worthy of the prophet. I have given another explanation of the place; agreeable enough to the context, if it can be deduced from the words themselves. I presume that אדם adam, rubuit, may signify erubuit, to be red through shame, as well as from any other cause; though I cannot produce any example of it in that particular sense; and the word in the text I would point מאדם meoddam; or if any one should object to the irregularity of the number, I would read מאדמים meoddamim. But I rather think that the irregularity of the construction has been the cause of the obscurity, and has given occasion to the mistaken punctuation. The singular is sometimes put for the plural. See Ps 68:31; and the participle for the future tense, see Isa 40:11. - L.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(11) Behold, all his fellows . . .—The noun has a half-technical sense, as describing a member of a religious guild or fraternity, such as were attached to heathen temples. In this sense “Ephraim was joined to idols” (Hos_4:17). In Hos_6:9, the noun is used for the “company” of priests.

Let them stand up.—The words gain in vividness when we remember that the challenge is addressed to the guild of idol-makers. They are but men; how can they make a god?

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. all his fellows] The word denotes the members of a guild, and is understood by A.V. of the gang of craftsmen employed in the making of the idol. It should rather be interpreted as the “adherents,” the clientèle of the false god himself, as in R.V. marg., “all that join themselves thereto.” Cf. Hos_4:17 (“associated with idols”) and 1Co_10:20. are of men] belong to the category of men (Isa_40:17), and how can men produce a god? Duhm, changing the vowel-points, renders: “Behold all the spells (cf. ch. Isa_47:9; Isa_47:12) are put to shame, and as for enchantments (cf. ch. Isa_3:3), they are of men;” an allusion to the magical process by which, in all systems of idolatry, the manufactured image is transformed into a fetish, the residence of a divinity. Similarly Cheyne (Introd. p. 301).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed,.... Either such who join with them in the worship of the molten graven image, or god formed, when they find it is profitable for nothing; so the Targum,

"behold all their worshippers shall be confounded;''

or their fellow workmen, who took their several parts in making the image, and so must be conscious of the vanity and unprofitableness of it, and ashamed when upbraided with it:

and the workmen they are of men; or, "of Adam" (b); they are the sons of Adam, fallen men, sinful, frail, mortal creatures; they are not so much as of the angels in heaven, but of men on earth, and so very unfit to be makers of a god:

let them be gathered together; workmen and worshippers, as Demetrius, and the craftsmen or shrine makers, with others at Ephesus:

let them stand up; and plead for their gods, and say all they can in the behalf of them:

yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together; the light of the Gospel breaking forth in the ministry of the apostles and others, the minds of many were enlightened to see the folly of worshipping idols, which brought them, and the makers of them, into contempt; who not being able to withstand the evidence and force of arguments brought against them, were covered with shame, and filled with fear, lest, should the Gospel still get further ground, their trade of idol making would come to nothing; or lest the vengeance of heaven should fall upon them for their idolatrous practices.

(b) "ipsi ex Adamo, sive ex hominibus", Munster, Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Behold, all his fellows - All that are joined in making, and in worshipping it, are regarded as the fellows, or the companions (חברין chăbērâyn) of the idol-god (see Hos 4:17 - ‘Ephraim is joined to idols’). They and the idols constitute one company or fellowship, intimately allied to each other.

Shall be, ashamed - Shall be confounded when they find that their idols cannot aid them.

And the workmen - The allusion to the workmen is to show that what they made could not be worthy of the confidence of people as an object of worship.

They are of men - They are mortal people; they must themselves soon die. It is ridiculous, therefore, for them to attempt to make a god that can defend or save, or that should be adored.

Let them all be gathered together - For purposes of trial, or to urge their claims to the power of making an object that should be adored (see the note at Isa 41:1).

Let them stand up - As in a court of justice, to defend their cause (see the note at Isa 41:21).

They shall fear - They shall be alarmed when danger comes. They shall find that their idol-gods cannot defend them.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

All his fellows; either,

1. The workmen, as it follows, who in this work are companions or partners with him, by whose cost and command the work is done. Or,

2. Those who any way assist and encourage him in this work, and join with him in worshipping the image which he maketh.

They are of men; they are of mankind, and therefore cannot possibly make a god. Or, they are of the meanest sort of men; for so the Hebrew word adam sometimes signifies.

They shall be ashamed together; though all combine together, and stand up with all their might to maintain the cause of their false gods, they shall be filled with fear and confusion, when God shall plead his cause against them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

All his fellows; or, all its associates"; i.e. all who are associated together in the worship of the idol. The worshippers of a particular idol, or sometimes of a particular god, formed a sort of guild or company, bound together by common participation in certain rites, and under an obligation to defend each other. The prophet says that, though the worshippers and the makers should, all of them, be gathered together, and stand up to help one the ether, yet should they be unable to effect anything. Gathered together against God, they would tremble and be ashamed."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Men - They are of mankind, and therefore cannot possibly make a God. Together - Tho' all combine together, they shall be filled with fear and confusion, when God shall plead his cause against them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“Lo, all his fellows shall be ashamed, and the workmen themselves are of men; they shall assemble all of them, they shall stand, they shall tremble, they shall be ashamed together.” The pronoun ‘his’ refers to the idol itself, and by ‘his fellows’ we are to understand all who have anything to do with it, either as manufacturers or worshippers. (Compare Num 25:3; Deu 11:22; Deu 30:20; Isa 56:3; Isa 56:6; Hos 4:17; 1Co 10:20). ‘Of men,’ (i.e., members of the human family or race). The makers of the idol are themselves mere men, and cannot therefore produce anything divine. The senseless idol and its human makers shall be witnesses against each other, and shall all be involved in the same condemnation and confusion.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking.

all his associates

Possible meanings are 1) this refers to the associates of the craftsman who makes the idol. AT: "all of the craftsman's associates" or 2) this refers to those who associate themselves with the idol by worshiping it. AT: "all those who worship the idol" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

be put to shame

This can be stated in active form. AT: "will be ashamed" (See: Active or Passive)

Let them take their stand together

"Let them all come together before me"

they will cower

"they will be terrified." To "cower" is to bend over in fear.

translationWords

shame

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

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.

and they are smiths those fashioners and molders, and they are of men, surely their creation is vanity.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

His fellows. The priests of Baal, or the artificers of the idols; the latter explanation is the better.

Let them all be gathered together and be ashamed.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.