Isaiah 44:14

14 He cuts down cedars or cypress or oak trees. Those trees grew by their own power in the forest. Or he plants a pine tree, and the rain makes it grow.

Isaiah 44:14 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 44:14

He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak,
&c.] To make gods of, trees both pleasant and durable, but all unfruitful: which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest;
taking a great deal of pains in seeking out such trees as were most fit for his use, and a great deal of care in the growth of them, that they might answer his end, as well as exerting his strength in cutting of them down: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it;
a tree that soon grows up, and which he plants for the purpose to make a god of; and this being watered and nourished with rain, which God vouchsafes, though designed for an idolatrous use, grows, and is fit for what it was intended; and being so, he cuts it down, and, makes an image of it; which shows his folly and madness, that a tree of his own planting, which he has seen the growth of, and yet be so sottish as to imagine that a god may be may be made of it. The word for "rain" signifies a body in the Syriac ^F7 language, as Kimchi observes, and for which he produces ( Daniel 4:33 ) , and so Aben Ezra says it signifies in the Arabic language ^F8; and the sense is, "the body" of the tree "grew up", and being grown up, was cut down, and used as follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 <arabic> "corpus", Luke iii. 22. 2Cor. x. 10. Castel. Lex. Polyglott. col. 627. So in the Chaldee language.
F8 So, according to Schindler, <arabic> signifies a body, Lex. Pentaglott. col. 347, 348.

Isaiah 44:14 In-Context

12 One workman uses tools to heat iron, and he works over hot coals. With his hammer he beats the metal and makes a statue, using his powerful arms. But when he becomes hungry, he loses his power. If he does not drink water, he becomes tired.

13 Another workman uses a line and a compass to draw on the wood. Then he uses his chisels to cut a statue and his calipers to measure the statue. In this way, the workman makes the wood look exactly like a person, and this statue of a person sits in the house.

14 He cuts down cedars or cypress or oak trees. Those trees grew by their own power in the forest. Or he plants a pine tree, and the rain makes it grow.

15 Then he burns the tree. He uses some of the wood for a fire to keep himself warm. He also starts a fire to bake his bread. But he uses part of the wood to make a god, and then he worships it! He makes the idol and bows down to it!

16 The man burns half of the wood in the fire. He uses the fire to cook his meat, and he eats the meat until he is full. He also burns the wood to keep himself warm. He says, "Good! Now I am warm. I can see because of the fire's light."