Isaiah 46:7

Isa 46:7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, [one] shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

Ver. 7. They bear him upon their shoulders.] As the Papists’ breaden god, furfuraceum illud numen, is, at this day, borne about to be adored; whereas the true God "beareth up all things by the word of his power." {Heb 1:3}

Yea, one shall cry unto him.] As they did to Baal in Elijah’s days; and the Cretans to their Jupiter, whom they therefore pictured without ears.

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.

cry . . . can . . . not . . . save-- (Isa 45:20, with which contrast Isa 45:19).

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 7. They bear him upon the shoulder - and set him in his place] This is the way in which the Hindoos carry their gods; and indeed so exact a picture is this of the idolatrous procession of this people, that the prophet might almost be supposed to have been sitting among the Hindoos when he delivered this prophecy. - WARD'S Customs.

Pindar has treated with a just and very elegant ridicule the work of the statuary even in comparison with his own poetry, from this circumstance of its being fixed to a certain station. "The friends of Pytheas," says the Scholiast, "came to the poet, desiring him to write an ode on his victory. Pindar demanded three drachms, (minae, I suppose it should be,) for the ode. No, say they, we can have a brazen statue for that money, which will be better than a poem. However, changing their minds afterwards, they came and offered him what he had demanded." This gave him the hint of the following ingenious esordium of his ode: -

Ουκ ανδριαντοποιος ειμ'

Ὡστ' ελινυσσοντα μ' εργαζε -

σθαι αγαλματ' επ' αυτας βαθμιδος

Ἑσταοτ.Αλλ' επι πασας

Ὁλκαδος εν τ' ακατῳ γλυκει' αοιδα

Στειχ' απ' Αιγινας διαγγελ -

lois' ὁτι Λαμπωνος ὑιος

Πυθεας ευρυσθενης

Νικῃ Νεμειοις παγκρατιου στεφανον. Nem. v.

Thus elegantly translated by Mr. Francis in a note to Hor. Carm. iv. 2. 19.

"It is not mine with forming hand

To bid a lifeless image stand

For ever on its base:

But fly, my verses, and proclaim

To distant realms, with deathless fame,

That Pytheas conquered in the rapid race."

Jeremiah, Jer 10:3-5, seems to be indebted to Isaiah for most of the following passage: -

"The practices of the people are altogether vanity:

For they cut down a tree from the forest;

The work of the artificer's hand with the axe;

With silver and with gold it is adorned;

With nails and with hammers it is fastened, that it may

not totter.

Like the palm-tree they stand stiff, and cannot speak;

They are carried about, for they cannot go:

Fear them not, for they cannot do harm;

Neither is it in them to do good."

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

7. They bear him &c.] the newly made idol, to his appointed place, from which he is powerless to move. How vain, therefore, is it to cry to him for help! He is a “god that cannot save” (Isa_45:20).

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.

They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him,.... That is, the idol; men carry him upon their shoulders in procession, and expose him to the view and veneration of the people, just as the host is carried in procession by the Papists; or the idol being made, the workman or his men lift it up, for it cannot lift up itself, and take it upon their shoulders, and carry it home to the proprietor:

and set him in his place; in his house, if an household god: or in the temple, church, or place of public worship, if designed for that:

or cause him to rest under him (p), or "in his place"; under the roof of his house or temple; a jeer upon him, as if he was weary of his long journey, though carried. Here again the idols are distinguished from the true God, and he from them; they are on men's shoulders, and set in a certain place, but he carries all his people, and is not limited to, or included in any place:

and he standeth, and from his place he shall not remove; the idol being set in his place stands fast, being nailed; he stands upright as a palm tree, and can never stir from the place where he is, to help any of his worshippers, in whatsoever distress they may be; nor can he get out of the way of any danger to which he may be exposed; if the temple or house, in which he is, is on fire, or overflowed with water, or broke into by thieves, he cannot move out of his place, and escape the danger; a fine deity to be worshipped indeed! see Isa 44:13.

Yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer; as Baal's priests and worshippers cried to him, but no voice was heard, nor answer returned, Kg1 18:26 for though they have ears, they hear not, and mouths, yet they speak not, Psa 115:5.

nor save him out of his trouble; that is, the idol cannot save the idolatrous worshipper out of his distress, which has caused him to cry unto him; see Isa 45:20.

(p) "et quiescere eum faciunt suo loco", Musculus.

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

They bear him upon the shoulder - They carry the idol which they have made on their shoulder to the temple, or place where it is to be fixed. This circumstance, with the others, is doubtless introduced to show how ridiculous and absurd it was to offer divine homage to a god whom they could thus carry about on the shoulder.

And set him in his place - Fix the idol on its basis or pedestal, in its proper niche, or place in the temple. The whole design of this verse is to contrast the idol with Yahweh. Yahweh is uncreated and eternal; the idol, on the contrary, is made by human beings, is borne about, is fixed in its place, has no power to move, remains there until it is taken down, and has no ability either to hear or save those who worship it.

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

They carry him; either,

1. In pomp upon solemn occasions; or,

2. From that place where he is made, unto that place where they intend to set him up, as it is expressed in the following words.

Shall he not remove; or rather, he cannot remove. He can stir neither hand nor foot to help his people.

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

They bear him upon the shoulder. (see the comment on Isa_45:20) Here, however, it is not the carrying in procession that is spoken of, but the conveyance of the imago by the workman from his own workshop to the temple where it is to be set up. The carrying of heavy burdens upon the shoulder is mentioned by Herodotus (2:35), and frequently represented on ancient monuments (see "Ancient Monarchies," vol. 1. pp. 402, 475; "Herodotus," vol. 2. pl. opp. p. 177; etc.). From his place shall he net remove; i.e. he (the god) will have no power of moving an inch from the spot on which he is set up. There he will stand motionless, till some one comes and pushes him or pulls him from his place.

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

Remove - He can stir neither hand nor foot to help his people.

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

“They will lift him on the shoulder, they will carry him, they will set him in his place, and he will stand (there), from his place he will not move; yes, one will cry to him, and he will not answer; from his distress he will (or can) not save him.” The idol is not only the work of man’s hands, but entirely dependent on him for the slightest motion. No wonder therefore that he cannot hear the prayers of his worshippers, much less grant them the deliverance and protection which they need.

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

They lift it

"They" refers to the people who make idols and "it" refers to the idol that they have created.

translationWords

save

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

תחתיו In his place.

לא ימיש It shall not move itself. ימיש is a transitive verb. It may also be explained to be a neuter verb meaning it shall move, but the former explanation is better.

The word יצעק One shall cry is to be repeated after ומצרתו and out of his trouble.

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.