Amplified Bible
Isaiah 46:1
1Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their idols are on the beasts [of burden] and on the cattle. Your burdens [of idols] are loaded [on them], Burdens on the weary animals.
Isaiah 46:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.
- New International Version (NIV)Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. Your carriages were heavily loaded, A burden to the weary beast.
Context of Isaiah 46:1
Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their idols are on the beasts [of burden] and on the cattle. Your burdens [of idols] are loaded [on them], Burdens on the weary animals. 2They stooped over, they have bowed down together; They could not rescue the burden [of their own idols], But have themselves gone into captivity. 3“Listen to Me,” [says the Lord], “O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been carried by Me from your birth And have been carried [in My arms] from the womb,
Read all of Isaiah 46Isaiah 46:1 word by word
כָּרַ֥ע בֵּל֙ קֹרֵ֣ס נְב֔וֹ הָיוּ֙ עֲצַבֵּיהֶ֔ם לַחַיָּ֖ה וְלַבְּהֵמָ֑ה נְשֻׂאֹתֵיכֶ֣ם עֲמוּס֔וֹת מַשָּׂ֖א לַעֲיֵפָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Belבֵּלbêl · BelH1078
- boweth downכָּרַעkâra‛ · to bowH3766
- Neboנְבוֹnebô · NeboH5015
- stoopethקָרַסqâras · to stoopH7164
- their idolsעָצָב‛âtsâb · idolH6091
- were upon the beastsחַיָּהchay · living thingH2416
- and upon the cattleבְּהֵמָהbehêmâh · animalH929
- your carriagesנְשׂוּאָהneώû'âh neώû'âh · burdenH5385
- heavy loadenעָמַס‛âmas ‛âmaώ · loadH6006
- a burdenמַשָּׂאmaώώâ' · burdenH4853
- to the wearyעָיֵף‛âyêph · faintH5889
Cross-references for Isaiah 46:1
- Isaiah 21:9Now look! Here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”
- Isaiah 41:6They each help his neighbor And say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”
- Exodus 12:12For I [the Lord] will pass through the land of Egypt on this night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal; against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments [exhibiting their worthlessness]. I am the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 5:3When the people of Ashdod got up early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
- Jeremiah 48:1Concerning Moab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Woe (judgment is coming) to [the city of] Nebo, for it has been destroyed! Kiriathaim has been shamed, it has been captured; Misgab [the high fortress] has been shamed, broken down and crushed.
- Jeremiah 50:2“Declare among the nations. Lift up a signal [to spread the news]—publish and proclaim it, Do not conceal it; say, ‘Babylon has been taken, Bel [the patron god] has been shamed, Marduk (Bel) has been shattered. Babylon’s images have been shamed, her [worthless] idols have been thrown down.’
- Jeremiah 51:44I will punish and judge Bel [the handmade god] in Babylon And take out of his mouth what he has swallowed up [the stolen sacred articles and the captives of Judah and elsewhere]. The nations will no longer flow to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon has fallen down!
- Isaiah 2:20In that day men will throw away to the moles and to the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves [as objects] to worship,
- Jeremiah 10:5They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; They cannot speak; They have to be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not be afraid of them, For they can do no harm or evil, Nor can they do any good.”
Commentaries on Isaiah 46:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Their carriages were heavy loaden "Their burdens are heavy" - For נשאתיכם nesuotheychem, your burdens, the Septuagint had in their copy נשאתיהם nesuotheyhem, their burdens.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Bel boweth down - Bel or Belus (בל bēl from בעל be‛ēl the same as בעל ba‛al was the chief domestic god of the Babylonians, and was worshipped in the celebrated tower of Babylon (compare Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:44). It was usual to compound names of the titles of the divinities that were worshipped, and hence, we often meet with this name, as in Bel-shazzar, Bel-teshazzar, Baal-Peor, Baal-zebub, Baal-Gad, Baal-Berith. The Greek and Roman writers…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The idols could not save themselves, but God saves his people. (Is. 46:1-4) The folly of worshipping idols. (Is. 46:5-13) Verses 1-4 The heathen insulted the Jews, as if their idols Bel and Nebo were too hard for Jehovah. But their worshippers cannot help them; both the idols and the idolaters are gone into captivity. Let not God's people be afraid of either. Those things from which ungodly men expect safety and happiness, will be found unable to save…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Marduk-bel was the most important god in the Babylonian group of gods. Bel, similar to Baal, meant lordship. Nebo (Nabu, Nebu), the patron god of Babylonian scribes, was believed to be the son of Marduk-bel. Instead of being celebrated at a Babylonian festival, people would transport these gods on ox carts and discard them, as the Babylonian people rejected them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-131. Bel--the same as the Phoenician Baal, that is, lord, the chief god of Babylon; to it was dedicated the celebrated tower of Babylon, in the center of one of the two parts into which the city was divided, the palace being in the center of the other. Identical with the sun, worshipped on turrets, housetops, and other high places, so as to be nearer the heavenly hosts (Saba) (Jr 19:13; 32:29; Zep 1:5). Gesenius identifies Bel with the planet Jupiter…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 46:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 46
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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