Bible Strands
Isaiah 44:19
And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Israel’s idolaters who have failed to recognize the logical absurdity of crafting gods from common materials. The passage occurs within an oracle condemning spiritual blindness and the worship of carved images.
The words — דַ֥עַת (Da'at) means knowledge, and תְבוּנָה (tevuNah) denotes understanding or insight. These terms describe the mental capacity required to process how wood was used for cooking before being worshipped.
The thread — The condemnation of carved idols as detestable objects recurs in Deuteronomy 27:15, 1 Kings 11:5, and 1 Kings 11:7. These references consistently label idolatry as an abomination that corrupts worship and obedience.
Why it lands — The text demands readers acknowledge that spiritual blindness prevents people from seeing the obvious contradiction in worshipping the very material that sustained them. It calls for immediate recognition that faith requires discernment, not self-deception.
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 none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 27:15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- 1 Kings 11:5 Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
- 1 Kings 11:7 At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.
- Exodus 7:23 Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart.
- Deuteronomy 32:46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.
- 2 Kings 23:13 The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
- Isaiah 5:13 Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.
- Isaiah 45:20 Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.
- Ezekiel 40:4 “Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”
- Hosea 7:2 But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face.