Isaiah / Chapter 46

Isaiah 46

13 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex 1 tradition available

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Bel and Nebo, Babylon's chief gods, are loaded onto weary animals as dead weight. In contrast, God has carried Israel from the womb and will carry them to old age. The idol-maker fashions a god that cannot move; the LORD announces the end from the beginning and calls a bird of prey from the east.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The chapter's theological argument is built on a single contrast: who carries whom? Babylonian gods must be carried by their worshippers (vv. 1-2); Israel's God carries His worshippers (vv. 3-4). The four first-person verbs of verse 4 — 'I have made, I will bear, I will carry, I will deliver' — trace God's commitment from creation through sustenance to salvation. The declaration 'I am God, and there is no other' (v. 9) combined with 'I declare the end from the beginning' (v. 10) identifies foreknowledge as the proof of divinity no idol can match.

Translation Friction

Bel (equivalent to Marduk, Babylon's chief deity) and Nebo (Nabu, god of writing, whose name appears in Nebuchadnezzar) are introduced being packed onto animals as their city falls. We transliterated both and noted their significance. The 'bird of prey from the east' (v. 11) is Cyrus — the metaphor emphasizes speed and inevitability.

Connections

The carried-vs-carrying contrast anticipates the Dagon episode (1 Samuel 5:1-4). The 'from the womb to old age' promise echoes Psalm 71:5-6, 17-18. Cyrus as the bird of prey connects to 41:2 and 44:28-45:1. The idol-making satire continues from 40:18-20 and 44:9-20.

Isaiah 46:1

כָּרַע בֵּל קֹרֵס נְבוֹ

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low. Their images are loaded on beasts and cattle. The things you carry are burdens, a load for weary animals.

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.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

בֵּל / נְבוֹ Bel / Nebo
"Bel / Nebo" — Babylonian deities: Bel (Marduk, chief god), Nebo (Nabu, god of wisdom and writing)

These are the two most important Babylonian deities, now portrayed as dead weight on pack animals.

Translator Notes

  1. Bel is the Babylonian supreme deity (equivalent to Marduk); Nebo (Nabu) is the god of writing, whose name appears in Nebuchadnezzar ('Nebo, protect the boundary'). The scene is Babylon's fall: its gods are packed onto donkeys for transport. The verbs kara ('bows') and qores ('stoops') describe collapse, not worship.
Isaiah 46:2

קָרְסוּ כָרְעוּ יַחְדָּו

They stoop, they bow down together; they cannot rescue the burden, and they themselves go into captivity.

KJV They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The gods go into captivity (shevi) alongside their people. A god that can be exiled is no god at all.

Dead Sea Scrolls (1QIsaᵃ, 125 BCE)minor

"your burdens"

Plene spelling in the scroll. Same word.

Isaiah 46:3

שִׁמְעוּ אֵלַי בֵּית יַעֲקֹב

Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, you who have been carried from the womb, borne from birth:

KJV Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The contrast is immediate: Babylonian gods are carried by their people; Israel is carried by their God. The same verbs for 'carried' and 'borne' apply to both — but the direction reverses.
Isaiah 46:4

וְעַד־זִקְנָה אֲנִי הוּא

Even to your old age I am He, and to grey hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry, and I will deliver.

KJV And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The emphatic ani hu ('I am He') is God's self-identification formula throughout Second Isaiah. The four verbs trace a complete arc: creation, sustenance, bearing, deliverance.
Isaiah 46:5

לְמִי תְדַמְּיוּנִי

To whom will you liken me or make me equal? To whom will you compare me, as though we were alike?

KJV To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The incomparability challenge echoes 40:18, 25 — three verbs eliminate every basis for comparison.
Isaiah 46:6

הַזָּלִים זָהָב מִכִּיס

Those who lavish gold from their purses and weigh out silver on the scales hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god. They bow down — yes, they worship.

KJV They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The idol-making process is economic: gold purchased, silver weighed, craftsman hired. The god is a commercial product. The worshipper prostrates before what his money bought.
Isaiah 46:7

יִשָּׂאֻהוּ עַל־כָּתֵף יִסְבְּלֻהוּ

They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it; they set it in its place, and there it stands. From its spot it does not move. If someone cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save anyone from distress.

KJV They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Five stages of total passivity: carried, set down, stands, cannot move, cannot respond. The final verdict: lo yoshiennu ('it cannot save') — the one function a god must perform, it cannot.
Isaiah 46:8

זִכְרוּ־זֹאת וְהִתְאֹשָׁשׁוּ

Remember this and stand firm; take it to heart, you rebels.

KJV Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The imperative calls the exiles to moral courage. The word posh'im ('rebels') addresses Israelites tempted by Babylonian religion.
Isaiah 46:9

זִכְרוּ רִאשֹׁנוֹת מֵעוֹלָם

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,

KJV Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The doubled self-identification with two negations ('no other,' 'none like me') is the chapter's theological climax. Memory is the antidote to idolatry.
Isaiah 46:10

מַגִּיד מֵרֵאשִׁית אַחֲרִית

declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is not yet done, saying, 'My purpose will stand, and I will accomplish all my desire.'

KJV Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God's ability to declare the end from the beginning (maggid mereshit acharit) is the definitive proof of divinity no idol can match.

Dead Sea Scrolls (1QIsaᵃ, 125 BCE)minor

"my counsel"

Identical consonantal text. 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose' reads the same.

Isaiah 46:11

קֹרֵא מִמִּזְרָח עַיִט

calling a bird of prey from the east, from a distant land the man of my purpose. I have spoken, and I will bring it about; I have planned, and I will do it.

KJV Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The 'bird of prey from the east' is Cyrus — swift, unstoppable, summoned from Persia. The phrase ish atsati ('man of my purpose') makes Cyrus God's instrument.
Isaiah 46:12

שִׁמְעוּ אֵלַי אַבִּירֵי לֵב

Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness:

KJV Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The abbirei lev ('stubborn of heart') are Israelites who resist God's plan. Being 'far from righteousness' is the opposite of seeking God.
Isaiah 46:13

קֵרַבְתִּי צִדְקָתִי

I am bringing near my righteousness — it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay. I will place salvation in Zion, my splendor upon Israel.

KJV I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God moves toward those who are 'far from righteousness' (v. 12) — He brings His righteousness near. The word tif'arti ('my splendor') applied to Israel means Israel will display God's glory. Salvation is placed 'in Zion' — specific, not abstract.
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