Isaiah 44 · Verse 12

Isaiah 44:12

The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

Isaiah 44:12, King James Version

Isaiah 44:12 in other translations

BSB	The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.
WEB	The blacksmith takes an ax, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.
ASV	The smith maketh an axe, and worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint.
YLT	He hath wrought iron with an axe, And hath wrought with coals, And with hammers doth form it, And doth work it by his powerful arm, Yea, he is hungry, and there is no power, He doth not drink water, and he is wearied.
DARBY	The iron-smith hath a chisel, and he worketh in the coals, and he fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm; — but he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he hath not drunk water, and he is faint.
BBE	The iron-worker is heating the metal in the fire, giving it form with his hammers, and working on it with his strong arm: then for need of food his strength gives way, and for need of water he becomes feeble.
Webster	The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yes, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

What does Isaiah 44:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

12. tongs--rather, "prepareth (to be supplied) an axe," namely, with which to cut down the tree designed as the material of the idol. The "smith" (Hebrew, "workman in iron") here answers to the "carpenter" (Hebrew, "workman in wood"). "He worketh it (the axe, not the idol, which was wood, not metal) in the coals," &c. The axe was wrought, not cast. The smith makes the axe for the carpenter. hungry ... drinketh no water--so eager is he to expedite his work while the iron is hot. If the god were worth anything, it would not let him grow "faint" with hunger and thirst. Williams, the missionary, states that the South Sea islanders when they make an idol abstain from food and drink.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 12 The smith with the tongs, etc. "The smith cutteth off a portion of iron" - מעצד meatstsed, Participium Pihel of עצד atsad, to cut; still used in that sense in the Arabic. See Simonis Lex. Hebrews The Septuagint and Syriac take the word in this form: but they render it sharpeneth the iron. See Castell. Lex. in voce. The sacred writers are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry; they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah, Isa 44:12-20, far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success; Wisd. 13:11-19; 15:7, etc.; Baruch 6, NAB (editor's note: some translations treat this as Letter to Jeremiah), especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received: - Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum, Cum faber incertus, scamnum faceretne Priapum, Maluit esse Deum. Deus inde ego. Horat. Satyr, lib. 1. sat. viii. "Formerly I was the stump of a fig tree, a useless log; when the carpenter, after hesitating whether to make me a god or a stool, at last determined to make me a god. Thus I became a god!" From the tenth to the seventeenth verse, a most beautiful strain of irony is carried on against idolatry. And we may naturally think that every idolater, who either read or heard it, must have been for ever ashamed of his own devices. - L.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 44:9-20

Image-making is described, to expose the folly of idolaters. Though a man had used part of a log for fuel, he fell down before an image made of the remainder, praying it to deliver him. Man greatly dishonours God, when he represents him after the image of man. Satan blinds the eyes of unbelievers, causing absurd reasonings in matters of religion. Whether men seek happiness in worldly things, or run into unbelief…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 44:9-20 →

Isaiah 44:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

חָרַ֤שׁcha.Rasha craftsman ofH2796

בַּרְזֶל֙bar.ZelironH1270

מַֽעֲצָ֔דma.'a.Tzada toolH4621

וּפָעַל֙u.fa.'Aland he works [it]H6466

בַּפֶּחָ֔םba.pe.Chamon the coal[s]H6352

וּבַמַּקָּב֖וֹתu.vam.ma.ka.Votand with <the> hammersH4717

יִצְּרֵ֑הוּyi.tze.Re.huhe forms itH3335

וַיִּפְעָלֵ֙הוּ֙vai.yif.'a.Le.huand he worked itH6466

בִּזְר֣וֹעַbiz.Ro.a'with [the] arm ofH2220

כֹּח֔וֹko.Chostrength hisH3581

גַּם\־gam-alsoH1571

רָעֵב֙ra.'Evhe is hungryH7456

וְאֵ֣יןve.'Einand there notH369

כֹּ֔חַKo.ach[is] strengthH3581

לֹא\־lo'-notH3808

שָׁ֥תָהSha.tahhe drinksH8354

מַ֖יִםMa.yimwaterH4325

וַיִּיעָֽף\׃vai.yi.'Afand he grew wearyH3286

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 44:12

Isaiah 41:6-7
They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
Isaiah 40:19
The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
Isaiah 46:6-7
They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
Jeremiah 10:3-11
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. …
Habakkuk 2:13
Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
Exodus 32:4
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exodus 32:8
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The smith
40:19; 41:6,7; 46:6,7; Ex 32:4,8; Jer 10:3-11
the tongs. or, an axe. yea, he is.
Hab 2:13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Isaiah 44:11
Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.
Isaiah 44:12
The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
Isaiah 44:13
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

Read all of Isaiah 44

Isaiah 44:12 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	El herrero tomará la tenaza, obrará en las ascuas, darále forma con los martillos, y trabajará en ella con la fuerza de su brazo: tiene luego hambre, y le faltan las fuerzas; no beberá agua, y se desmaya.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	L’ouvrier en fer a un ciseau, et il travaille avec des charbons; il forme l’image avec des marteaux, et la travaille avec son bras vigoureux; mais il a faim et il n’a pas de force; il n’a pas bu d’eau, et il est las.
German Elberfelder 1871	Der Eisenschmied hat ein Werkzeug und arbeitet bei Kohlenglut, und er gestaltet es mit Hämmern und verarbeitet es mit seinem kräftigen Arm. Er wird auch hungrig und kraftlos; er hat kein Wasser getrunken und ermattet.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Faber ferrarius lima operatus est, in prunis et in malleis formavit illud, et operatus est in brachio fortitudinis suæ; esuriet et deficiet, non bibet aquam et lassescet.