Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>]

Dear Kenneth,

The passage of Isaiah 44:9-20 is an expository sermon on the making of idols 
by
those who have turned from the Living God to "ones of their own making." The
passage is divided into 2 sections:
    44:9-11    The nothingness and shamefulness of making idols.
    44:12-17   The process of making idols and their worship
    44:18-20   The condemnation of these idols.

Note that 44:14 tells of the man who cuts down a cedar or other type of 
hardwood
and nourishes it as a woodman would do. Then he describes how the very tree 
that
is used by the man for fuel for heating, cooking, etc., is the same tree that
the man makes into an idol. Vss 18-20 condemns this practice.

44:15 (RSV) a  Then it becomes fuel for man;
                   b   he takes apart of it and warms himself,
                   c   he kindles a fire and bakes bread;
                   d   also he makes a god and worships it,
                   e   he makes it a graven image and falls down before it.

You will notice the parallelism is being used in this verse (that is why I 
broke
it into clauses). 44:15a is paralleled by 15b & c; while 15d & e parallel one
another. "make a god" = "make a graven image" ; "worships it" = "falls down
before it." These two clauses are used by Isaiah to show how the 1st, 2nd and
3rd Commandments were broken by Judah. I will let you make the modern
application.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "kenneth greifer" <greifer AT hotmail.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 8:19 PM
Subject: [b-hebrew] Isaiah 44:15


>
> I don't understand Isaiah 44:15. It says he makes a god and worships, and 
> then
if I understand correctly it says he makes it an idol and bows to it or to 
them.
If he made a god (an idol), why would he make it (the idol) an idol. Is that
what it is saying? I guess making a god means to make an idol, unless it could
mean to make up a non-physical god and then to make it an idol.
>
> I don't know if anyone will be willing to answer this question, but I will 
> ask
anyway. Please do not answer me off-list. If you don't want to answer me
on-list, please don't answer me.
>
> Kenneth Greifer
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