Isaiah 46:1

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 bows down; Nebo stoops over. Their idols are for beasts and cattle. The things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. 2They stoop, they bow down together, they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. 3“Listen to Me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, borne by Me from birth, carried from the womb.

Isaiah 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 21:9Look! Here comes a chariot of men, with a pair of horsemen.” Then one answered and said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods are broken on the ground.”
• Isaiah 41:6Each one helps his neighbor and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
• Exodus 12:12“For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and strike down every firstborn, both men and animals, and I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Adonai.
• 1 Samuel 5:3But when the Ashdodites arose early next morning, to everyone’s surprise, Dagon had fallen to his face on the ground before the ark of Adonai. So they took Dagon up and put him back in his place.
• Jeremiah 48:1Concerning Moab, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Oy to Nebo! For it will be ravaged. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured. The fortress will be shamed, shattered.
• Jeremiah 50:2“Declare it among the nations and proclaim! Raise a banner, announce, hide nothing! Say: ‘Babylon will be captured, Bel put to shame, Merodach dismayed, her images disgraced, her idols shattered!’
• Jeremiah 51:44I will punish Bel in Babylon— What he swallowed I will make him disgorge out of his mouth. Nations will no longer stream to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon has fallen!
• Isaiah 2:20In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made to worship, to the moles and to the bats!
• Jeremiah 10:5Like a scarecrow in a cucumber garden, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk! Do not fear them for they can do no harm —nor 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

• Babylon
• Bel
• Idolatry
• Nebo

In the dictionaries

• Bel
• Carriage
• Nebo
• Pleasure
• Purpose
• Astrology
• Bear; Borne
• Bel, and the Dragon
• Dagon
• Evil

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