12 The blacksmith takes an axe, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
The worker in iron. With good reason does the Apostle here draw up a long description, in order to shake off the stupidity and madness of superstitious people, if they can at all be awakened, or, at least, to prevent the Jews from indulging in similar folly who were surrounded on all sides by innumerable worshippers of false gods; for he gives a minute and homely enumeration, which makes it exceedingly evident that they are frantic and outrageous, he might otherwise have condemned this wickedness in a single word or in a few words; but this catalogue points out the fact, as it were, with the finger, and places it before our eyes, he details the tools and labors and industry and care of workmen, so as almost to bring it actually before us. Men who have their errors deeply rooted by nature in their hearts are more deeply affected in this manner than by simple doctrine; for they cannot be roused from their lethargy but by loud and continual cries. Every part must be delivered to them, and broken into small fragments, and even chewed and put into the mouth, as they do with infants, that they may receive the doctrine, which would otherwise appear to them strange and uncommon. Even hungry. He describes the eagerness by which superstitious persons are impelled to fashion gods; for they burn with such ardor that they cannot observe any limit or measure. Their lust, like a gad-fly, drives them on, and causes them to rush forward with such fury that we may justly compare that zeal to the love of a harlot, as we have formerly said. They apply to it their whole force both of body and of mind. This is what he means by the arm of his strength; [1] as if he had said, "All the strength of their arms is applied to it; they work against their natural inclinations, and scarcely take as much as is necessary for the support of life; in a word, they spare no labor or expense to make the gods whom they have desired. Although he describes the constancy of toil, by saying that they do not slacken their labor when they are hungry, but endure hunger and thirst rather than relinquish their work, [2] yet we may appropriately extend the observation to all the efforts of inconsiderate zeal. We see how the fervent devotion, as they call it, of unbelievers, is their own executioner; but the more laboriously they toil for their own destruction, the more base and shameful is our slothfulness, by which we defraud God of his lawful worship.
1 - "The strength of his arms." -- Eng. Ver.
2 - The lamented missionary, Mr. Williams, discovered in the Islands of the Pacific a superstitious practice, probably very ancient, which sheds light on this passage. During the manfacture of an idol, the workmen scrupulously abstain from food, and do not even drink water; which accounts for the painful exhaustion and intense thirst described by the Prophet Isaiah as brought on at an advanced stage of the operation. "Their strength faileth," and "they are faint." -- Ed.
The 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 was ever written on the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the Apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success (Wisd. 13:11-19; 15:7; etc.; Baruch 6) Horace, however, has given a description of the making of idols, which, for severity of satire, and pungency of sarcasm, has a strong resemblance to this description in Isaiah:
Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum;
Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum
Maluit esse Deum.
Sat. I. viii. 1-3.
Lowth renders the phrase 'the smith with the tongs,' 'The smith cutteth off a portion of iron.' Noyes, 'The smith prepareth an axe' The Septuagint, 'The carpenter sharpeneth (ὤζυνε ōzune) iron' (σίδηρον sidēron), that is, an axe. So also the Syriac. Gesenius renders it, 'The smith makes an axe.' Many other renderings of the passage have been proposed. The idea in this verse is, I think, that the prophet describes the commencement of the process of making a graven image. For that purpose, he goes back even to the making of the instruments by which it is manufactured, and in this verse he describes the process of making an axe, with a view to the cutting down of the tree, and forming a god. That he does not here refer to the making of the idol itself is apparent from the fact that the process here described is that of working in iron; but idols were not made of iron, and that here described especially (Isaiah 44:11 ff) is one made of wood. The phrase used here, therefore, refers to the process of axe-making with a view to cutting down a tree to make a god; and the prophet describes the ardor and activity with which it is done, to show how much haste they were in to complete it. The literal translation of this phrase is, 'The workman (חרשׁ chârash, st. const. for חרשׁ chârâsh) of iron (maketh) an axe.'
Both worketh in the coals - And he works the piece of iron of which he is making an axe in the coals. He blows the coals in order to produce an intense heat (see Isaiah 54:16) - 'Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire.'
And fashioneth it with hammers - Forms the mass of iron into an axe. Axes were not cast, but made.
And worketh it with the strength of his arms - Or, he works it with his strong arms - referring to the fact that the arm of the smith, by constant usage, becomes exceedingly strong. A description remarkably similar to this occurs in Virgil when he is describing the Cyclops:
Illi inter sesc magna vi brachia tollunt
In numerum; versantque tenaci forcipe ferrum.
Georg. iv. 174, 175.
Heaved with vast strength their arms in order rise,
And blow to blow in measured chime replies;
While with firm tongs they turn the sparkling ore,
And Etna's caves with ponderous anvils roar.
Sotheby.
Yea, he is hungry - He exhausts himself by his hard labor. The idea is, that he is so anxious to have it done, so engaged, so diligent, that he does not even stop to take necessary refreshment.
And his strength faileth - He works until he is completely exhausted.
He drinketh no water - He does not intermit his work even long enough to take a draught of water, so hurried is he. While the iron is hot, he works with intense ardor, lest it should grow cool, and his work be retarded - a very graphic description of what all have seen in a blacksmith's shop. The Revelation. John Williams states that when the South Sea islanders made an idol, they strictly abstained from food; and although they might be, and were sometimes, three days about the work, no water, and he believes no food, passed their lips all the time. This fact would convey a satisfactory elucidation of an allusion not otherwise easily explained (Pictorial Bible).
The 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 absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah, Isaiah 44:12-20, far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success; Wisd. 13:11-19; 15:7, etc.; Baruch 6, NAB (editor's note: some translations treat this as Letter to Jeremiah), especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received: -
Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum,
Cum faber incertus, scamnum faceretne
Priapum, Maluit esse Deum. Deus inde ego.
Horat. Satyr, lib. 1. sat. viii.
"Formerly I was the stump of a fig tree, a useless log; when the carpenter, after hesitating whether to make me a god or a stool, at last determined to make me a god. Thus I became a god!"
From the tenth to the seventeenth verse, a most beautiful strain of irony is carried on against idolatry. And we may naturally think that every idolater, who either read or heard it, must have been for ever ashamed of his own devices. - L.
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 (s) hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
(s) He describes the raging affection of the idolaters, who forget their own necessities to set forth their devotion toward their idols.
The smith with the tongs,.... Or, "the worker of iron" (c); the blacksmith, who had a concern in making of idols, for some were made of iron, Daniel 5:4, or in making plates to cover them, or nails to fasten them with, or instruments which the carpenter made use of in cutting down trees, and fitting the wood for an image; such as the axe or hatchet, or plane, and which some think is here meant, by the word translated "tongs", but is rendered an "axe", Jeremiah 10:3 and is used for that, or an hatchet, or a plane, by the Misnic (d) writers; so the Targum renders it,
"the smith out of iron makes an axe or hatchet:''
"both worketh in the coals"; he puts his iron in the coals, and blows upon them, and so makes it soft and malleable, and then takes it out:
and fashioneth it with hammers: beats it with hammers upon the anvil, and puts it into what form he pleases:
and worketh it with the strength of his arms; uses his utmost strength to bring it into a form he is desirous of:
yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint; he works at it with all his might and main, is earnest at it, and is eagerly desirous of finishing his work; he works till he is hungry and thirsty, and for want of food is ready to faint and sink; and yet will not give himself time to eat and drink, being so intent upon his work: or the sense is, though he is hungry and thirsty, and faints for want of provisions, yet the god he is making, or has made, cannot supply him with any: this is said to expose the folly of idol making, and of idol worship.
(c) "faber ferri", Pagninus, Montanus; "faber ferrarius", V. L. Vitringa. (d) Misn. Sabbat, c. 12. sect. 1. Celim, c. 29. 6.
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 while the iron is hot. If the god were worth anything, it would not let him grow "faint" with hunger and thirst. Williams, the missionary, states that the South Sea islanders when they make an idol abstain from food and drink.
The prophet now conducts us into the workshops. "The iron-smith has a chisel, and works with red-hot coals, and shapes it with hammers, and works it with his powerful arm. He gets hungry thereby, and his strength fails; if he drink no water, he becomes exhausted. The carpenter draws the line, marks it with the pencil, carries it out with planes, and makes a drawing of it with the compass, and carries it out like the figure of a man, like the beauty of a man, which may dwell in the house." The two words chârash barzel are connected together in the sense of faber ferrarius, as we may see from the expression chârash ‛ētsı̄m (the carpenter, faber lignarius), which follows in Isaiah 44:13. Chârash is the construct of chârâsh (= charrâsh), as in Exodus 28:11. The second kametz of this form of noun does indeed admit of contraction, but only to the extent of a full short vowel; consequently the construct of the plural is not חרשׁי, but חרשׁי (Isaiah 45:16, etc.). Hence Isaiah 44:12 describes how the smith constructs an idol of iron, Isaiah 44:13 how the carpenter makes one of wood. But the first clause, מעצד בּרזל חרשׁ, is enigmatical. In any case, מעצד is a smith's tool of some kind (from עצד, related to חצד). And consequently Gesenius, Umbreit, and others, adopt the rendering, "the smith an axe, that does he work ;" but the further account of the origin of an idol says nothing at all about this axe, which the smith supplies to the carpenter, that he may hew out an idol with it. Hitzig renders it, "The smith, a hatchet does he work, and forms it (viz., into an idol);" but what a roundabout way! first to make a hatchet and then make it into an idol, which would look very slim when made. Knobel translates it, "As for the cutting-smith, he works it;" but this guild of cutting-smiths certainly belongs to Utopia. The best way to render the sentence intelligible, would be to supply לו: "The smith has (uses) the ma‛ătsâd." But in all probability a word has dropped out; and the Septuagint rendering, ὅτι ὤξυνεν τέκτων σίδηρον σκεπάρνω εἰργάσατο κ.τ.λ, shows that the original reading of the text was מעצד ברזל חרס חדד, and that חדד got lost on account of its proximity to יחץ. The meaning therefore is, "The smith has sharpened, or sharpens (chiddēd, syn. shinnēn) the ma‛ătsâd," possibly the chisel, to cut the iron upon the anvil; and works with red-hot coals, making the iron red-hot by blowing the fire. The piece of iron which he cuts off is the future idol, and this he shapes with hammers (יצרהוּ the future of יצר). And what of the carpenter? He stretches the line upon the block of wood, to measure the length and breadth of the idol; he marks it upon the wood with red-stone (sered, rubrica, used by carpenters), and works it with planes (maqtsu‛ōth, a feminine form of מקצוע, from קצע, to cut off, pare off, plane; compare the Arabic mikta‛), and with the compasses (mechūgâh, the tool used, lâchūg, i.e. for making a circle) he draws the outline of it, that is to say, in order that the different parts of the body may be in right proportion; and he constructs it in such a manner that it acquires the shape of a man, the beautiful appearance of a man, to be set up like a human inmate in either a temple or private house. The piel תּאר (תּאר), from which comes yetāărēhū, is varied here (according to Isaiah's custom; cf., Isaiah 29:7; Isaiah 26:5) with the poelתּאר, which is to be understood as denoting the more exact configuration. The preterites indicate the work for which both smith and carpenter have made their preparations; the futures, the work in which they are engaged.
Faint - This is mentioned as an evidence of great zeal and industry in carrying on this work; so that they forget or neglect to eat and drink.
*More commentary available at chapter level.