Isaiah 44:15

Isa 44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth [it], and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth [it]; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.

Ver. 15. Then shall it be for a man to burn.] The chips at least shall, and the offal.

Yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it.] Quod Dei est, trunco tribuit.

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.

44:15-17 he uses part of the wood to make a fire . . . he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship: This description of the process of making an idol drips with sarcasm and ridicule at the stupidity of the foolish idol worshipers (see also 44:19).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He setteth forth the obstinacy and malice of the idolaters, which though they see by daily experience that their idols are no better than the rest of the matter whereof they are made, yet they refuse the one part, and make a god of the other, as the Papists make their cake god, and the rest of their idols.

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

The same tree that furnishes the material for the god is in part used as fuel for a fire to cook his meals and warm himself!

thereto--rather, "he falleth down before them," that is, such images [MAURER].

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

(15-17) Then shall it be. . . .—The point on which the prophet dwells with indignant iteration is that it is a mere chance which half of the shapeless log is to be worshipped as a god, and which to be used for cooking the workmen’s dinner. Diagoras of Melos, the reputed atheist disciple of Democritus, is said to have thrown a wooden Hercules on his hearth, bidding the hero-god do a thirteenth labour, and boil his turnips (Del.).

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

15, 16. Comp. (with Lowth) Horace, Sat. 1. 8, 1 ff.:

“Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum,

Cum faber, incertus, scamnum faceretne Priapum,

Maluit esse Deum.”

Also Wisd. Sol. 13:11–13.

The word rendered “falleth down (ṣâgad)” is an Aramaic verb meaning “worship,” recurring in the O.T. only Isa_44:17; Isa_44:19 and ch. Isa_46:6. It is the root of the Arabic word mosque (musðid).

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.

Then shall it be for a man to burn,.... And which indeed is the proper use of it, but not all that this man puts it to; only the boughs, and what he cuts off as useless to his purpose, and the chips he makes, which he commits to the fire:

for he will take thereof, and warm himself; with some part of it he makes a fire in his parlour, and warms himself when it is cold weather:

yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; he heats his oven with another part of it, and bakes the bread he has made for himself and family to live on, and which is putting it to a good use:

yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh a graven image, and falleth down thereto; the other part of the tree, and which is the better part, he makes an image of, and carves it, and calls it a god; and not only so, but when he has done, falls down and worships it; than which there cannot be a greater instance of stupidity and folly.

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

Then shall it be for a man to burn - It will afford materials for a fire. The design of this verse and the following is, to ridicule the idea of a man’s using parts of the same tree to make a fire to cook his victuals, to warm himself, and to shape a god. Nothing could be more stupid than the conduct here referred to, and yet it is common all over the pagan world. It shows the utter debasement of the race, that they thus of the same tree make a fire, cook their food, and construct their gods.

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

Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the vanity and folly of them; that he maketh his fire and his god of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man.

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

Then shall it be for a man to burn. The tree that has been planted, and nourished, and has grown up is naturally "for a man to burn." That is its ordinary destination; and even the idolater applies it partly to this purpose; but out of a portion he maketh a god. The very same tree serves him both for fuel and for a divinity.

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

Fallen down - Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the folly of them, that he makes his fire and his God of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man.

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

“And it shall be to men for burning (i.e., for fuel), and he has taken of them and warmed himself; yes, he will kindle and bake bread; yes, he will form a god and fall prostrate; he has made it a graven image and bowed down to them.” The future meaning of the first verb is determined by its intimate connection with the last word of the foregoing verse. The Prophet seems designedly to interchange the singular and plural forms, in order to identify with more effect the idol worshipped and the sticks consumed. He takes of them (the sticks), kindles a fire, warms himself, bakes bread, then makes a god, and worships, yes, bows down before them (the sticks of wood). The argument of this and the succeeding verses is intended to exhibit the absurdity of worshipping the same material that is constantly applied to the most trivial domestic uses.

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

Then a man uses it

"The man uses the wood"

he makes an idol and bows down to it

This part of the sentence says basically the same as the first to emphasize it. (See: Parallelism)

translationWords

bread

false god

bow

false god

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

And it was for man to ignite And part of that very tree was for man’s necessities, [viz.] to ignite.

and he took from the trees. and he warmed his body opposite them.

he even heated an oven with them and baked bread.

he even made a God from what was left over.

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.

לבער To bum. Then shall it be for a man, etc. Some warm themselves by the fire, others kindle it, etc. ישיק He kindleth it. Comp. נשקה was kindled (Ps. Ixxviii. 21); the meaning of נשק is similar to that of בער to burn.

ויסגד And falleth down. This word is frequently met with in Arabic and Chaldaic.

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.