Isaiah 40:20

The needy offerer, of a tree that will not rot, maketh choice,—A skilled artificer, seeketh he out for himself to construct an image that shall not totter,

The Emphasised Bible by J. B. Rotherham

In The King James Version

He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

In Context

19The image, hath been cast by an artificer, And a goldsmith, with gold, overlayeth it,—And, chains of silver, he worketh.

21Have ye never taken note? Have ye never heard? Hath it not from the beginning, been told you? Have ye not been led to discern, from the foundations of the earth?

Read all of Isaiah 40

Cross References

Isaiah 2:8And filled is their land with idols,—To the work of their own hands, do they bow themselves down, To that which they made with their own fingers.

Isaiah 44:13As for the carpenter,—He hath stretched out a line hath drawn it with a pencil, Hath made it with carving tools, With compasses, hath rounded it,—And so hath made it after the figure of a great man, After the beauty of a son of earth, that it may remain in a house!

Jeremiah 10:3For as for the prescribed customs of the peoples, vanity, they are,—For a tree out of the forest, one cutteth down, Work for the hands of a skilled workman with the axe:

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 40:19-27

Vanity of Idols. ( b. c. 708.) 18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Isaiah 40:20