44.10
The Book of Isaiah 44.10 · Who shapes a god for nothing?44.10Who shapes a god for nothing?
The prophet asks a sharp question about the idol-makers' whole project.
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מִי־1
mî-
Who
יָצַר2
yāṣar
shapeshe shaped
אֵל3
ʾēl
a god
וּפֶסֶל4
û-p̄esel
or an idoland idol
נָסָךְ5
nāsāḵ
castshe poured
לְבִלְתִּי6
lə-ḇiltî
so as not tofor not
הוֹעִיל׃7
hôʿîl
profitto profit
? Who shapes a god or casts an idol to no profit?
Who shapes a god or casts an idol to no profit?
44.11
The Book of Isaiah 44.11 · All his companions will be ashamed44.11All his companions will be ashamed
The idol-makers' whole guild is called up to stand before the LORD, and the craftsmen turn out to be only human.
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Look, all his companions will be ashamed, and the craftsmen are merely human. Let them all gather let them stand they will tremble and be put to shame together.
A one-line question, and the joke is in the grammar: “Who has fashioned a god?” ʾĒl, “god”, sits as the object of a craftsman’s verb. The word that elsewhere names the high god of Canaan and the God of Israel is here something you cast in a mould.