Bible Strands
Isaiah 46:7
They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah addresses the exiled community to contrast their reliance on manufactured idols with the Lord who actively bears them. The prophet speaks at a moment when the people are weighing silver and commissioning goldsmiths to craft portable deities.
The words — The text highlights יִסְבְּלֻ֜/הוּ (yis.be.Lu./hu) for carrying and כָּתֵ֨ף (ka.Tef) for shoulder, emphasizing the physical burden worshippers must bear. It also notes וְ/יַנִּיחֻ֤/הוּ (ve./ya.ni.Chu./hu) for setting the statue down, underscoring its inability to move on its own.
The thread — This motif of immobile, carried idols recurs in Isaiah 45:20, Jeremiah 10:5, and 1 Samuel 5:3. Each passage reinforces the absurdity of worshipping objects that require human support and cannot act independently.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that idols cannot respond to cries or rescue from trouble. Readers must abandon reliance on static, human-made objects and trust the God who actively bears and delivers.
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 bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Jeremiah 10:5 Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
- 1 Samuel 5:3 When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
- Isaiah 46:1 Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
- Judges 10:12 Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you and you cried out to Me, did I not save you from their hands?
- 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.
- 1 Kings 18:40 Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.
- Jeremiah 2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.
- Daniel 3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
- Jonah 1:5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.