Bible Strands
Isaiah 44:9
All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel, immediately after declaring in v. 8 that they are His witnesses and no other God exists. The verse sits at the center of a three-beat argument (vv. 8–10) dismantling idolatry.
The words — תֹהוּ (tohu, "nothingness," the same word for the formless void in Genesis 1:2) is applied not to the idols but to their makers. עֵדֵיהֶם (ʿedeyhem, "their witnesses") inverts the claim in v. 8, where Israel are called Yahweh's witnesses.
The thread — Isaiah 41:24 uses the same "you are nothing" language against idolaters; Jeremiah 10:14 puts the goldsmith to shame by his own work; Psalms 97:7 declares all who worship images are put to shame.
Why it lands — The verse does not merely say idols are useless; it says the people who made them are reduced to nothingness and their own testimony disqualifies them. A reader is forced to ask which side of the witness-stand they are on.
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
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 41:24 Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
- Jeremiah 10:14 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
- Psalms 97:7 All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
- Isaiah 41:29 See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
- Habakkuk 2:18 What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
- 1 Kings 18:26 And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.
- Psalms 115:8 Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- Psalms 135:18 Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- Isaiah 2:20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.
- Isaiah 37:18 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.