Isaiah 46:2

Dead Idols and the Living God

1 Bel ^abows down, Nebo stoops;
Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.
Your carriages were heavily loaded,
^bA burden to the weary beast.

2 They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden,
^aBut have themselves gone into captivity.

3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
^aWho have been upheld by Me from¹ birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:

4 Even to your old age, ^aI am He,
And even to gray hairs ^bI will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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Isaiah 46:2

They could not deliver the burden "They could not deliver their own charge" - That is, their worshippers, who ought to have been borne by them. See the two next verses. The Chaldee and Syriac Versions render it in effect to the same purpose, those that bear them, meaning their worshippers; but how they can render massa in an active sense, I do not understand.

For lo , not, velo , and they could not, is the reading of twenty-four of Kennicott' s, sixteen of De Rossi' s, and two of my own MSS. The added vau gives more elegance to the passage.

But themselves "Even they themselves" - For venaphsham , an ancient MS. has ki naphsham , with more force.

**Other Adam Clarke entries containing Isaiah 46:2:**

Exodus 11:7
Daniel 5:31
Habakkuk 2:18

<< Isaiah 46:1

Isaiah 46:3 >>

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