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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לִכְרָת־1
liḵrōṯ-
To cut down
אֲרָזִים2
ʾărāzîm
cedars
לוֹ3
lô
for himselffor him
וַיִּקַּח4
wa-yyiqqaḥ
or takesand he takes
תִּרְזָה5
tirzâ
a cypress
וְאַלּוֹן6
wə-ʾallôn
and an oak
וַיְאַמֶּץ־7
wa-yəʾammeṣ-
and lets it grow strongand he strengthens
לוֹ8
lô
for himselffor him
בַּעֲצֵי־9
ba-ʿăṣê-
among the trees of
יָעַר10
yāʿar
the forest
נָטַע11
nāṭaʿ
he plantshe planted
אֹרֶן12
ʾōren
an ash treeoren tree
וְגֶשֶׁם13
wə-ḡešem
and the rain
יְגַדֵּל׃14
yəḡaddēl
makes it grow
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
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
44.15
The Book of Isaiah 44.15 · Fuel for the fire, and a god too44.15Fuel for the fire, and a god too
The same wood serves two purposes. Some warms him and bakes his bread, and some becomes the god he bows to.
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And it becomes for a man to burn. He takes some of it and warms himself; he even kindles and bakes bread. He even makes a god and bows down; he makes it an idol and prostrates himself to it.
Before the carving comes the forestry. He cuts cedars, takes a tirzâ and an oak (ʾallôn), lets them grow strong among the trees of the forest, plants an ʾōren, and “the rain makes it grow”. The exact species are guesses, then and now. The rain is God’s. The idol’s raw material was raised by the God it is meant to replace.
A sacred tree was exactly what an asherah could be (Deuteronomy 16:21, “you shall not plant an asherah, any tree, beside the altar”). Isaiah never says the word here, but a reader in his time would have seen the planted tree and known.