Bible Strands
Isaiah 17:8
They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers a prophetic declaration to Judah regarding a coming day of judgment and restoration.
The words — יִשְׁעֶה (yish.'Eh) = he will look and מַעֲשֵׂה (ma.'a.Seh) = work of.
The thread — The rejection of handmade idols recurs in Isaiah 2:8 and 30:22, where idolatry is condemned as the work of human hands.
Why it lands — It demands a clear choice between turning to the Creator or clinging to human-made objects of worship.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 30:22 So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”
- Isaiah 27:9 Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.
- Isaiah 2:8 Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
- Micah 5:13 I will also cut off the carved images and sacred pillars from among you, so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your own hands.
- Exodus 34:13 Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- 2 Chronicles 14:5 He also removed the high places and incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and under him the kingdom was at peace.
- 2 Chronicles 34:4 Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
- 2 Chronicles 34:6 Josiah did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them.
- Isaiah 1:29 Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen.
- Isaiah 2:18 and the idols will vanish completely.