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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Isaiah 40:19 - 40:19
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Least of all can an idol bear comparison with Him. “The idol, when the smith has cast it, the melter plates it with gold, and melteth silver chains for it.” The object (happesel, the idol), which is here placed first as the theme in the accusative (lit. the image hewn out), denotes in this instance an idol generally. חָרָשׁ is as comprehensive as faber. בַּזָּהָב רִקֵּע signifies here to cover over with a זָהָב רִקֻּעַ (laminâ auri), the verb being used in a denominative sense, and not in its primary meaning. As we must assume, according to Isa 40:20, that the prophet intends to carry us into the midst of the process of manufacturing the idol, the paratactic expression is to be pointed as above, viz., “after the (a) smith has cast it (compare Arab. nasik, a piece of cast metal), the (a) melter (goldsmith) covers it with gold plate;” and tsōrēph, which is palindromically repeated, according to Isaiah's custom, is not the third pers. poel (on the poel of strong stems, see at Job 9:15 and Psa 109:10), but a participle, equivalent to הוּא צוֹרֵף (as in Isa 29:8, which see; and also, according to the accents, Isa 33:5), “and he melteth chains of silver,” viz., to fasten the image.