Isaiah 46:2

It seems like both gods are bowing down; not only can they not save themselves, but they themselves are being ◄exiled/taken to another country►!

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

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

In Context

1It is as though Bel and Nebo, the statues of the gods of Babylonia, are bowing down as those statues are put on animals and carried away! The statues are heavy burdens and will cause the animals to become tired [SAR]!

3Yahweh says, “You descendants of Jacob who were exiled, I am not like the gods of Babylonia that must be carried; instead, it is as though I have carried you since you first became a nation [MET]. I carried you even before you became a nation.

Read all of Isaiah 46

Cross References

Judges 18:17The five men who had explored the land went into Micah’s house, and took all the idols, the sacred vest, and the statue. While they did that, the 600 men stood outside the gate, talking with the priest.

2 Samuel 5:21The Philistia men left their idols there; so David and his soldiers took them away.

Isaiah 37:12Did the gods of the nations that were about to be destroyed by the armies of the previous kings of Assyria rescue them? Did those gods rescue Gozan region, and Haran and Rezeph cities in northern Syria, and the people of Eden region who were forced to go to Tel-Assar city?

Isaiah 44:17Then he takes the rest of the wood and makes an idol which is his god. He bows down to it and worships it, and prays to it and says, “You are my god, so save me!”

Jeremiah 43:12Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt. But before they burn the temples, they will take away their idols as souvenirs. His troops will clean Egypt like a shepherd cleans lice from his cloak. They will tear down the sacred pillars that are in the temple of their sun god. And then Nebuchadnezzar’s troops will leave there, without having been harmed.”’”

Hosea 10:5The people who live in Samaria city are worried about what may happen to the idol that resembles a calf that they set up at Beth-Aven town. The people in Samaria will mourn, and the priests there will cry about it if it is damaged or destroyed. Previously they shouted joyfully about its being very great; but now it will not be great any more.

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 46:2-5

The Folly of Idolatry. ( b. c. 708.) 1 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. 2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. 3 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: 4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

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