Isaiah 46:2

Isaiah 46:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
• New International Version (NIV)They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They stoop, they bow down together; They could not deliver the burden, But have themselves gone into captivity.

Context of Isaiah 46:2

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. They 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, 4Even to your old age I am He, And even to your advanced old age I will carry you! I have made you, and I will carry you; Be assured I will carry you and I will save you.

Isaiah 46:2 word by word

קָרְס֤וּ כָֽרְעוּ֙ יַחְדָּ֔ו לֹ֥א יָכְל֖וּ מַלֵּ֣ט מַשָּׂ֑א וְנַפְשָׁ֖ם בַּשְּׁבִ֥י הָלָֽכָה׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They stoopקָרַסqâras · to stoopH7164
• they bow downכָּרַעkâra‛ · to bowH3766
• togetherיָחְדָּוyachad · togetherH3162
• they couldיָכֹלyâkôl yâkôl · be ableH3201
• not deliverמָלַטmâlaţ · to escapeH4422
• the burdenמַשָּׂאmaώώâ' · burdenH4853
• but themselvesנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: myselfH5315
• are goneהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980
• into captivityשְׁבִיshebîy · captivityH7628

Cross-references for Isaiah 46:2

• Isaiah 36:18Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations [ever] rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
• Isaiah 37:12Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan, Haran [of Mesopotamia], Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?
• Isaiah 44:17But from what is left of the wood he makes a god, his carved idol. He falls down before it, he worships it and prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
• Isaiah 45:20“Assemble yourselves and come; Come together, you survivors of the nations! They are ignorant, Who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle] And keep on praying to a god that cannot save them.
• Judges 18:17Now the five men who had gone to scout the land went up and entered the house and took the image [of silver-plated wood], the ephod, the teraphim, and the cast image [of solid silver], while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
• 2 Samuel 5:21The Philistines abandoned their [pagan] idols there, so David and his men took them away [to be burned].
• Jeremiah 43:12And [through him] I will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them (Egyptian idols) captive. He will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will go away from there safely.
• Jeremiah 48:7For because you have trusted in your works [your hand-made idols] and in your treasures [instead of in God], Even you yourself will be captured; And Chemosh [your disgusting god cannot rescue you, but] will go away into exile [along with the fugitives] Together with his priests and his princes.

Commentaries on Isaiah 46:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2They could not deliver the burden "They could not deliver their own charge" - That is, their worshippers, who ought to have been borne by them. See the two next verses. The Chaldee and Syriac Versions render it in effect to the same purpose, those that bear them, meaning their worshippers; but how they can render משא massa in an active sense, I do not understand. For לא lo, not, ולא velo, and they could not, is the reading of twenty-four of Kennicott's…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2They stoop - Bel, and Nebo, and all the Babylonian gods (see Isaiah 46:1). They could not deliver the burden - The word burden‘ here, probably means the load of metal, wood, and stone, of which the idols were composed. The gods whom the Babylonians worshipped had not even power to protect the images which were made to represent them, and which had now become a heavy burden to the animals and wains which were carrying them away. They could not rescue them…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2This taunt was against the self-contradiction of Babylonian religion. A taunt is a mocking song or speech. In this passage, the prophet makes fun of Babylon’s beliefs. The message shows that their religion does not make sense.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. deliver--from the enemies' hands. burden--their images laid on the beasts (Is 46:1). themselves--the gods, here also distinguished from their images.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 46:2

• Babylon
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Pleasure
• Purpose
• Bear; Borne
• Deliver
• Evil
• Isaiah
• Mark, the Gospel According to
• Saviour
• Gate

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