Isaiah 17:8

Isaiah 17:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.
• New International Version (NIV)They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made.
• English Standard Version (ESV)He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.
• New King James Version (NKJV)He will not look to the altars, The work of his hands; He will not respect what his fingers have made, Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.

Context of Isaiah 17:8

6There will be only a few people that remain in Israel. They will be like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. Perhaps two or three olives are still there on the highest branches. Four or five olives may remain on the other branches.’ That is what the Lord God of Israel says. 7At that time, people will turn back to their Maker. They will trust the Holy God of Israel to help them. They will no longer trust their idols to help them. They made altars for themselves, where they worshipped their gods. They worshipped Asherah at special poles. They made altars where they burned incense. But they will not do those things any more. 9At that time, Israel's strong cities will be empty. People will run away from those cities, as the Amorites ran away from the hills when the Israelites attacked them. Israel's strong cities will become heaps of stones. 10That will happen because you have forgotten the God who rescues you. He is the Rock where you can safely hide, but you have turned away from him. Instead, you plant the best plants and vines in your gardens. You buy them from foreign countries for a lot of money.

Isaiah 17:8 word by word

וְלֹ֣א יִשְׁעֶ֔ה אֶל־הַֽמִּזְבְּח֖וֹת מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה יָדָ֑יו וַאֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשׂ֤וּ אֶצְבְּעֹתָיו֙ לֹ֣א יִרְאֶ֔ה וְהָאֲשֵׁרִ֖ים וְהָחַמָּנִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And he shall not lookשָׁעָהshâ‛âh · to gazeH8159
• to the altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• the workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
• of his handsיָדyâd · handH3027
• neither shall respectרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• which his fingersאֶצְבַּע'etsba‛ · fingerH676
• have madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• either the grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• or the imagesחַמָּןchammân · pillarH2553

Cross-references for Isaiah 17:8

• Isaiah 1:29You will become ashamed because you trusted special oak trees to help you. You worshipped idols in your special gardens, and you will be ashamed because of that.
• Isaiah 2:18All the useless idols will be there no more.
• Isaiah 27:9In that way the Lord punished Jacob's descendants for their sins. They are no longer guilty. This will be the result when God has taken away Jacob's sin completely: All the stones in their altars will become small pieces of chalk. There will be no Asherah pole or altars for incense that continue to stand.
• Isaiah 30:22Then you will destroy your idols and your images of false gods. You used silver or gold to make them beautiful. But now you will throw them away like a piece of dirty cloth. You will tell them, ‘Go away!’
• 2 Chronicles 34:6He went to the towns that belonged to the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon. He even went as far as Naphtali. He did the same thing in all those towns, as well as in the villages around them where nobody lived.
• Ezekiel 36:25You will become pure, as if I splash you with clean water. I will remove all the things that make you unclean. I will take away the idols that you worship.
• Hosea 14:8People of Ephraim, do not let me see your idols any more! I will answer your prayers. I will take care of you. I am like a strong green tree. All the good things that you have come from me.’
• Zephaniah 1:3I will remove men and animals. I will remove the birds that fly in the air. I will also remove the fish that live in the sea. I will remove all the bad people. Bad people cause trouble for other people. Yes, I will remove all the people from the ground. It is the Lord who is speaking.
• Zechariah 13:2The Lord Almighty says, ‘On that day, I will remove the names of false gods from the country. Everyone will forget them. I will remove all the false prophets. And I will remove the bad spirit that is not holy.
• Isaiah 2:8But their land is also full of useless idols. They worship things that they have made with their own hands.
• Isaiah 31:6Israelite people, you have turned completely against the Lord. Now turn back to him!
• Isaiah 44:15He uses some of the wood to burn. He makes himself warm beside the fire. He may light a fire and then he may bake bread on it. Then he uses some of the wood to make a god that he will worship! Yes, he makes an idol, and he bends down in front of it.
• Hosea 8:4My people chose kings to rule them, but they did not ask me about it. They chose people to lead them, but I did not agree. They used their silver and their gold to make idols for themselves. But that will destroy them in the end.
• Hosea 10:1Israel was like a healthy vine that had lots of grapes. But as the Israelites became more and more rich, they built more and more altars. As their land gave more crops, they made the pillars that they worshipped more beautiful.
• Hosea 13:1In past times, when the leaders of Israel spoke, the people were afraid. The people respected their leaders. But the people became guilty when they worshipped Baal. Because of that, they died.
• Micah 5:13You bend down to worship tall stones and idols. But I will destroy all of them. You will stop worshipping things that you have made with your own hands.

Commentaries on Isaiah 17:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8The altars, the work of his hands "The altars dedicated to the work of his hands" - The construction of the words, and the meaning of the sentence, in this place are not obvious; all the ancient Versions, and most of the modern, have mistaken it. The word מעשה maaseh, "the work," stands in regimine with מזבחות mizbechoth, "altars," not in opposition to it; it means the, altars of the work of their hand; that is of the idols, which are the work of their…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8And he shall not look to the altars - That is, the altars of the gods which the Syrians worshipped, and the altars of the false gods which had been erected in the land of Israel or Samaria by its wicked kings, and particularly by Ahaz. Ahaz fancied an altar which he saw at Damascus when on a visit to Tiglath-pileser, and ordered Urijah the priest to construct one like it in Samaria, on which he subsequently offered sacrifice 2 Kings 16:10-13. It is well…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Canaanites and then Israelites worshiped the fertility goddess Asherah in wooded areas or, in the absence of wooded areas, by using Asherah poles (see Isaiah 27:9; 65:3; Micah 5:14).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. groves--A symbolical tree is often found in Assyrian inscriptions, representing the hosts of heaven ("Saba"), answering to Ashteroth or Astarte, the queen of heaven, as Baal or Bel is the king. Hence the expression, "image of the grove," is explained (2Ki 21:7). images--literally, "images to the sun," that is, to Baal, who answers to the sun, as Astarte to the hosts of heaven (2Ki 23:5; Job 31:26).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 17:8

• Groves
• Idolatry
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning

In the dictionaries

• Idol
• Rebuke
• Ruinous
• Rushing
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Images
• Isaiah
• Raisins
• Sun-Worship

Commentaries on Isaiah 17

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings