44.13
The Book of Isaiah 44.13 · The carpenter measures out a man44.13The carpenter measures out a man
Next the woodworker, who marks, planes and compasses a block of wood until it looks like a human being.
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חָרַשׁ1
ḥāraš
The craftsman incraftsman of
עֵצִים2
ʿēṣîm
woodtrees
נָטָה3
nāṭâ
stretches outhe stretched
קָו4
qāw
a linecord
יְתָאֲרֵהוּ5
yəṯāʾărēhû
he marks it outhe outlines it
בַשֶּׂרֶד6
ḇa-śśered
with a scribe's awlwith the stylus
; יַעֲשֵׂהוּ7
yaʿăśēhû
he shapes ithe makes it
בַּמַּקְצֻעוֹת8
ba-mmaqṣuʿôṯ
with planeswith scrapers
וּבַמְּחוּגָה9
û-ḇa-mməḥûḡâ
and with a compassand with the compass
יְתָאֳרֵהוּ10
yəṯāʾŏrēhû
he outlines ithe marks it out
וַיַּעֲשֵׂהוּ11
wa-yyaʿăśēhû
and makes itand he makes it
כְּתַבְנִית12
kə-ṯaḇnîṯ
like the shape oflike the pattern of
אִישׁ13
ʾîš
a man
, כְּתִפְאֶרֶת14
kə-ṯip̄ʾereṯ
like the beauty oflike the glory of
אָדָם15
ʾāḏām
a human
, לָשֶׁבֶת16
lāšeḇeṯ
to sitto dwell
בָּיִת׃17
bāyiṯ
in a house
. The woodworker stretches out a line he marks it out with an awl; he shapes it with planes and he marks it with a compass and makes it in the shape of a man, like a human's beauty, to sit in a house.
The woodworker stretches out a line he marks it out with an awl; he shapes it with planes and he marks it with a compass and makes it in the shape of a man, like a human's beauty, to sit in a house.
44.14
The Book of Isaiah 44.14 · He plants a tree and the rain grows it44.14He plants a tree and the rain grows it
The man gets his timber. He cuts or plants a tree, and the rain, not he, makes it grow.
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He cuts down cedars for himself or takes a cypress and an oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the forest trees he plants an ash tree and the rain makes it grow
The carpenter measures with a line, marks with a stylus, shapes with planes, traces with a compass, and makes it kə-taḇnîṯ ʾîš, “in the pattern of a man”, “like the beauty of a human”, “to sit in a house”. The god is a statue of a man, and it will stay at home. Every detail of the workshop is real; the irony needs no comment.