Isaiah 44:12

Isaiah 44:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint.
• New Living Translation (NLT)The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool, pounding and shaping it with all his might. His work makes him hungry and weak. It makes him thirsty and faint.

Context of Isaiah 44:12

10Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing? 11People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame. The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. 13The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. 14He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.

Isaiah 44:12 word by word

חָרַ֤שׁ בַּרְזֶל֙ מַֽעֲצָ֔ד וּפָעַל֙ בַּפֶּחָ֔ם וּבַמַּקָּב֖וֹת יִצְּרֵ֑הוּ וַיִּפְעָלֵ֙הוּ֙ בִּזְר֣וֹעַ כֹּח֔וֹ גַּם־רָעֵב֙ וְאֵ֣ין כֹּ֔חַ לֹא־שָׁ֥תָה מַ֖יִם וַיִּיעָֽף׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The smithחָרָשׁ, חֲרָשִׁיםchârâsh · artificerH2796
• The smithבַּרְזֶלbarzel · ironH1270
• with the tongsמַעֲצָדma‛ătsâd · axeH4621
• both workethפָּעַלpâ‛al · to workH6466
• in the coalsפֶּחָםpechâm · coalH6352
• and fashionethיָצַרyâtsar · to form: formedH3335
• it with hammersמַקָּבָהmaqqâbâh · hammerH4717
• it with the strengthכֹּחַkôach kôach · strengthH3581
• of his armsזְרוֹעַzerôa‛ zerôa‛ zerô‛âh zerô‛âh · armH2220
• yea, he is hungryרָעֵבrâ‛êb · hungryH7457
• failethאַ֫יִן'ayin · nothingH369
• he drinkethשָׁתָהshâthâh · to drinkH8354
• no waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
• and is faintיָעֵףyâ‛aph · to faintH3286

Cross-references for Isaiah 44:12

• Isaiah 40:19As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.
• Isaiah 41:6they help each other and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
• Isaiah 46:6Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it.
• Exodus 32:4He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
• Jeremiah 10:3For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
• Habakkuk 2:13Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?

Commentaries on Isaiah 44:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12The smith with the tongs, etc. "The smith cutteth off a portion of iron" - מעצד meatstsed, Participium Pihel of עצד atsad, to cut; still used in that sense in the Arabic. See Simonis Lex. Hebrews The Septuagint and Syriac take the word in this form: but they render it sharpeneth the iron. See Castell. Lex. in voce. The sacred writers are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry; they treat it with great severity, and set forth the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12The smith with the tongs - The prophet proceeds here to show the folly and absurdity of idolatry; and in order to this he goes into an extended statement Isaiah 44:12-19 of the manner in which idols were usually made. Lowth remarks, The sacred writers are generally large and eloquent on the subject of idolatry; they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah far exceeds anything that…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-20Verses 9-20 Image-making is described, to expose the folly of idolaters. Though a man had used part of a log for fuel, he fell down before an image made of the remainder, praying it to deliver him. Man greatly dishonours God, when he represents him after the image of man. Satan blinds the eyes of unbelievers, causing absurd reasonings in matters of religion. Whether men seek happiness in worldly things, or run into unbelief, superstition, or any false…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6-20This passage uses the form of a trial speech to press God’s argument that disgrace comes to all who trust in idols and false gods.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. tongs--rather, "prepareth (to be supplied) an axe," namely, with which to cut down the tree designed as the material of the idol. The "smith" (Hebrew, "workman in iron") here answers to the "carpenter" (Hebrew, "workman in wood"). "He worketh it (the axe, not the idol, which was wood, not metal) in the coals," &c. The axe was wrought, not cast. The smith makes the axe for the carpenter. hungry ... drinketh no water--so eager is he to expedite his work…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 44:12

• Carving
• Idol
• Idolatry
• Smith

In the dictionaries

• Axe
• Consider
• Fit
• Graving
• Hammer
• Idol
• Pleasure
• Surname
• Ax (axe); Ax-Head
• Coal

Commentaries on Isaiah 44

• 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