Isaiah 40:19
Isaiah 40:19 in Multiple Translations
To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
The image, a workman hath cast it, and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth for it silver chains.
The workman makes an image, and the gold-worker puts gold plates over it, and makes silver bands for it.
Is he a metal idol that a craftsman casts in a mold, and then a goldsmith overlays it with gold and makes silver chains for it?
The workeman melteth an image, or the goldsmith beateth it out in golde, or the goldesmith maketh siluer plates.
The graven image poured out hath a artisan, And a refiner with gold spreadeth it over, And chains of silver he is refining.
A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
Hath the workman cast a graven statue? or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
Can you compare him to an idol that is made in a mold, and then is covered with a thin sheet of gold and decorated with silver chains?
Berean Amplified Bible — Isaiah 40:19
BAB
Word Study
Hover over any word to see its amplified meaning. Click a word to explore its full definition and translation comparisons.
Amplified text is generated using scripting to tie together English translations for comparison. Always refer to the core BSB translation and original Hebrew/Greek text for accuracy. Anomalies may occur.
Isaiah 40:19 Interlinear (Deep Study)
BIB
HEB
הַ/פֶּ֨סֶל֙
נָסַ֣ךְ
חָרָ֔שׁ
וְ/צֹרֵ֖ף
בַּ/זָּהָ֣ב
יְרַקְּעֶ֑/נּוּ
וּ/רְתֻק֥וֹת
כֶּ֖סֶף
צוֹרֵֽף
הַ/פֶּ֨סֶל֙
peçel
H6459
idol
Art | N-ms
נָסַ֣ךְ
nâçak
H5258
to pour
V-Qal-Perf-3ms
חָרָ֔שׁ
chârâsh
H2796
artificer
N-ms
וְ/צֹרֵ֖ף
tsâraph
H6884
to refine
Conj | V-Qal
בַּ/זָּהָ֣ב
zâhâb
H2091
gold
Prep | N-ms
יְרַקְּעֶ֑/נּוּ
râqaʻ
H7554
to beat
V-Piel-Imperf-3ms | Suff
וּ/רְתֻק֥וֹת
rᵉthuqâh
H7577
chain
Conj | N-fp
כֶּ֖סֶף
keçeph
H3701
silver
N-ms
צוֹרֵֽף
tsâraph
H6884
to refine
V-Qal
Hebrew Word Study
Select any word above to explore its original meaning, root, and usage across Scripture.
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Hebrew Word Reference — Isaiah 40:19
הַ/פֶּ֨סֶל֙
peçel
H6459
"idol"
Art | N-ms
In the Bible, this Hebrew word refers to an idol or carved image, often used to describe false gods or objects of worship. It is sometimes translated as graven image, emphasizing the act of carving or shaping the idol. This concept is seen in the Bible as a form of rebellion against God.
Definition: idol, image Also means: pe.sil (פָּסִיל "idol" H6456)
Usage: Occurs in 30 OT verses. KJV: carved (graven) image. See also: Exodus 20:4; 2 Chronicles 33:7; Psalms 97:7.
נָסַ֣ךְ
nâçak
H5258
"to pour"
V-Qal-Perf-3ms
In the Bible, this Hebrew word means to pour out or install, often used for setting up a king or offering a sacrifice. It appears in Exodus and Numbers, describing rituals and ceremonies. The word is also used for melting metal.
Definition: 1) to pour out, pour, offer, cast 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to pour out 1a2) to cast metal images 1a3) to anoint (a king) 1b) (Niphal) to be anointed 1c) (Piel) to pour out (as a libation) 1d) (Hiphil) to pour out libations 1e) (Hophal) to be poured out Aramaic equivalent: ne.sakh (נְסַךְ "to pour" H5260)
Usage: Occurs in 24 OT verses. KJV: cover, melt, offer, (cause to) pour (out), set (up). See also: Genesis 35:14; Isaiah 30:1; Psalms 2:6.
חָרָ֔שׁ
chârâsh
H2796
"artificer"
N-ms
A chârâsh was a skilled craftsman or artisan, able to work with various materials like wood or metal. This term is used in the Bible to describe carpenters, engravers, and other skilled workers.
Definition: 1) craftsman, artisan, engraver, graver, artificer 1a) graver, artificer 1b) skilful to destroy (warriors) (fig.)
Usage: Occurs in 33 OT verses. KJV: artificer, ([phrase]) carpenter, craftsman, engraver, maker, [phrase] mason, skilful, ([phrase]) smith, worker, workman, such as wrought. See also: Exodus 28:11; Ezra 3:7; Isaiah 40:19.
וְ/צֹרֵ֖ף
tsâraph
H6884
"to refine"
Conj | V-Qal
To refine means to purify something, like metal, by removing impurities. In the Bible, God refines his people like silver, testing and purifying them through trials. This process makes them stronger and more faithful.
Definition: 1) to smelt, refine, test 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to smelt, refine 1a2) to test 1a3) to test (and prove true) 1a4) smelter, refiner, goldsmith (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be refined 1c) (Piel) to be a refiner 1c1) refiner (participle)
Usage: Occurs in 29 OT verses. KJV: cast, (re-) fine(-er), founder, goldsmith, melt, pure, purge away, try. See also: Judges 7:4; Isaiah 1:25; Psalms 12:7.
בַּ/זָּהָ֣ב
zâhâb
H2091
"gold"
Prep | N-ms
Gold is a valuable metal, also used to describe something yellow or brilliant, like oil or a clear sky. It is often mentioned in the Bible as a precious resource.
Definition: 1) gold 1a) as precious metal 1b) as a measure of weight 1c) of brilliance, splendour (fig.) Aramaic equivalent: de.hav (דְּהַב "gold" H1722)
Usage: Occurs in 336 OT verses. KJV: gold(-en), fair weather. See also: Genesis 2:11; Numbers 7:26; 1 Chronicles 28:17.
יְרַקְּעֶ֑/נּוּ
râqaʻ
H7554
"to beat"
V-Piel-Imperf-3ms | Suff
This Hebrew verb means to beat or pound something, like metal, to shape or expand it. It is used to describe the process of making metal plates for the tabernacle in Exodus. The word also implies a sense of passion or strong emotion.
Definition: 1) to beat, stamp, beat out, spread out, stretch 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to stamp, beat out 1a2) one who beats out (participle) 1b) (Piel) to overlay, beat out (for plating) 1c) (Pual) beaten out (participle) 1d) (Hiphil) to make a spreading (of clouds)
Usage: Occurs in 11 OT verses. KJV: beat, make broad, spread abroad (forth, over, out, into plates), stamp, stretch. See also: Exodus 39:3; Isaiah 40:19; Psalms 136:6.
וּ/רְתֻק֥וֹת
rᵉthuqâh
H7577
"chain"
Conj | N-fp
A chain is what this Hebrew word refers to, something that is fastened or tied together. In the Bible, chains are often used to describe being held captive or restricted. The prophet Jeremiah wrote about chains and bondage in Jeremiah 28:10.
Definition: chain
Usage: Occurs in 1 OT verses. KJV: chain. See also: Isaiah 40:19.
כֶּ֖סֶף
keçeph
H3701
"silver"
N-ms
Silver or money, often referring to payment or wealth, like the silver talents in Matthew 25. It can also describe silver as a valuable metal or ornament.
Definition: : money/payment/silver 1) silver, money 1a) silver 1a1) as metal 1a2) as ornament 1a3) as colour 1b) money, shekels, talents
Usage: Occurs in 343 OT verses. KJV: money, price, silver(-ling). See also: Genesis 13:2; Numbers 22:18; 2 Chronicles 1:17.
צוֹרֵֽף
tsâraph
H6884
"to refine"
V-Qal
To refine means to purify something, like metal, by removing impurities. In the Bible, God refines his people like silver, testing and purifying them through trials. This process makes them stronger and more faithful.
Definition: 1) to smelt, refine, test 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to smelt, refine 1a2) to test 1a3) to test (and prove true) 1a4) smelter, refiner, goldsmith (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be refined 1c) (Piel) to be a refiner 1c1) refiner (participle)
Usage: Occurs in 29 OT verses. KJV: cast, (re-) fine(-er), founder, goldsmith, melt, pure, purge away, try. See also: Judges 7:4; Isaiah 1:25; Psalms 12:7.
Study Notes — Isaiah 40:19
Show Verse Quote Highlights
- Context
- Cross References
- Isaiah 40:19 Summary
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Reflection Questions
- Gill's Exposition on Isaiah 40:19
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 40:19
- Matthew Poole's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
- Trapp's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
- Ellicott's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
- Adam Clarke's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
- Cambridge Bible on Isaiah 40:19
- Barnes' Notes on Isaiah 40:19
- Whedon's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
- Sermons on Isaiah 40:19
Context — Here Is Your God!
17All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
18To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
19To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
20One lacking such an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple. 21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeremiah 10:9 | Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz— the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers. |
| 2 | Habakkuk 2:18–19 | What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it— or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.” |
| 3 | Isaiah 46:6–7 | They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship. They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles. |
| 4 | Exodus 32:2–4 | So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” |
| 5 | Judges 17:4 | So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah. |
| 6 | Psalms 115:4–8 | Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats. Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them. |
| 7 | Isaiah 44:10–12 | Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing? Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame. The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint. |
| 8 | Jeremiah 10:3–5 | For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman. They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter. Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.” |
| 9 | Psalms 135:15 | The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. |
| 10 | Psalms 135:18 | Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them. |
Isaiah 40:19 Summary
[Isaiah 40:19 is saying that it's foolish to compare the one true God to something that people made with their own hands, like an idol. This is because God is the all-powerful Creator of the universe, as seen in Genesis 1:1, and idols are just lifeless objects, as stated in Psalm 115:4-8. The verse is highlighting the ridiculousness of trying to give value and worth to something that is ultimately worthless. By recognizing this, we can worship and devotion solely to the one true God, as commanded in Exodus 20:4-5.]
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Isaiah 40:19 mention idols and craftsmen?
Isaiah 40:19 mentions idols and craftsmen to highlight the foolishness of comparing the one true God to man-made objects, as seen in Isaiah 40:18, and to emphasize God's transcendence over all human creations, as stated in Isaiah 40:17 and Psalm 96:5.
What is the significance of overlaying an idol with gold and fitting it with silver chains?
The act of overlaying an idol with gold and fitting it with silver chains, as mentioned in Isaiah 40:19, symbolizes the attempt to give value and worth to something that is ultimately worthless, much like the emptiness of idols described in Deuteronomy 4:28 and 1 Kings 18:25.
How does this verse relate to the concept of idolatry in the Bible?
Isaiah 40:19 relates to the concept of idolatry by exposing the idol's lack of true value and worth, which is a common theme throughout the Bible, as seen in Exodus 20:4-5, Leviticus 26:30, and 1 Corinthians 10:14.
What can we learn from the comparison between God and an idol in this verse?
We can learn that God is incomparable to any human-made object or creation, and that our worship and devotion should be directed solely to Him, as stated in Exodus 34:14 and Matthew 4:10.
Reflection Questions
- What are some modern-day idols that we may be tempted to worship, and how can we guard our hearts against them?
- How does the description of the idol in Isaiah 40:19 make you think about the fleeting nature of human creations and the eternal nature of God?
- In what ways can we, like the craftsman in this verse, be guilty of trying to give value and worth to things that are ultimately worthless?
- What does this verse teach us about the dangers of attributing divine qualities to human-made objects or creations?
- How can we apply the lesson of Isaiah 40:19 to our daily lives, recognizing the difference between the one true God and the idols that surround us?
Gill's Exposition on Isaiah 40:19
The workman melteth a graven image,.... Or, "the founder"; he melts some sort of metal, as iron, brass, copper, or lead, which he casts into a mould for an image, and afterwards graves, or gets it
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 40:19
The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. The workman melteth a graven image.
Matthew Poole's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
The workman melteth a graven image; he melteth some base metal into a mould, which giveth it the form of an image, which afterwards is graven or carved to make it more exact and amiable. Thus the image oweth all its excellency to the earth for the matter of it, and to the art of man for the form or fashion of it. Spreadeth it over with gold, beaten out into leaves or plates. Casteth silver chains; either for ornaments; or rather for use, to fasten it to a wall or pillar, lest it should fall down, and be broken in pieces; which is spoken in way of scorn and derision of such ridiculous deities as needed such supports.
Trapp's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
Isaiah 40:19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.Ver. 19. The workman melteth a graven image.] That may be afterward graved and gilded over. And casteth silver chains.] To fasten it to the place; or, he raileth it in. Et nisi homini Deus placuerit, Deus non erit, saith Tertullian. Numa, second king of Romans, saw this great vanity, and therefore forbade images of the gods in temples. So do the Turks at this day to the shame of Papists’ idolomania. Plutarch. de Isid. et Osir.
Ellicott's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
(19) The workman melteth . . .—The reign of Ahaz, not to speak of that of Manasseh, must have supplied the prophet with his picture of the idol factory not less fully than if he had lived in Babylon or Nineveh. Spreadeth it over with gold.—The image of lead was covered over, as in the well-known story of Phidias’s “Zeus,” with plates of gold. The “silver chains” fastened it to the wall.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
Verse 19. And casteth silver chains - "And forgeth for it chains of silver."] For צורף tsoreph, the participle, twenty-seven MSS., five ancient, and three editions, read צרף tsaraph, pret. third person.
Cambridge Bible on Isaiah 40:19
19. melteth a graven image] R.V. The graven image, a workman melted it. The word péṣ ?el means strictly a “graven image,” but is used several times as here of an image in general. overlayeth it with gold] The idol consists of a core of brass which is cast by the “workman,” and then handed over to the goldsmith to be covered with a plating of gold (see ch. Isaiah 30:22). and casteth silver chains] A perplexing clause, which the LXX. omits. The word rendered “casteth” is the same as that for “goldsmith” (strictly “assayer”), the participle being translated by a finite verb. But such a construction is incorrect: and besides the verb is never used except in the sense of “test” or “purify.” It is only when the partic. has become a noun that it assumes the general sense of worker in metal. Hence Dillmann proposes to render “and with silver chains a smelter (sc. covers it).” But this is exceedingly harsh. The word for “chains” is also of doubtful meaning, and altogether the clause must be pronounced hopelessly obscure.
Barnes' Notes on Isaiah 40:19
The workman - The Hebrew word denotes an artificer of any kind, and is applied to one who engraved on wood or stone Exodus 28:2; to a workman in iron, brass, stone, wood Exodus 35:35; Deuteronomy
Whedon's Commentary on Isaiah 40:19
18, 19. To whom… will ye liken God — The conclusion is, the impossibility of adequately conceiving Jehovah’s greatness and exaltation. Likeness of him to any thing is beyond any human conception.
Sermons on Isaiah 40:19
| Sermon | Description | |
|---|---|---|
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Vision #2 by Stephen Kaung | In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of taking God's word seriously and living out the visions He gives us. The example of Abraham is used to illustrate this poin |
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Epistle 85 by George Fox | George Fox emphasizes the importance of following the light of Christ to find rest and witness the new covenant, where personal teaching from man is not needed. He urges listeners |
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Broken Cisterns by Chuck Smith | This sermon emphasizes the importance of worshiping the true and living God, highlighting the dangers of seeking fulfillment in broken cisterns, which represent false beliefs and i |
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The Worship of False Gods by Chuck Smith | This sermon delves into the concept of worship and the nature of false gods that people create, such as the pursuit of recognition, pleasure, money, and sex. It emphasizes the impo |
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Man Made God's by Chuck Smith | In this sermon, the preacher discusses the tragic truth that many people are caught up in idol worship, specifically idols made of silver and gold. He references the book of Deuter |
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(Through the Bible) Ezekiel 11-15 by Chuck Smith | In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that society today is not like the Victorian age or a puritan society. He warns against forsaking God's commandments and living like the peo |
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Unreached Peoples: The Drokpa People of the Himalayas by Paul Hattaway | This sermon delves into the unique traditions and lifestyle of the Drogpa people, who live in a fruitful yet isolated area, practicing ancient customs and idol worship. Despite the |