Isaiah 42:17

17 They will be turned back [and] utterly ashamed- those who trust in idols and say to metal-plated images: You are our gods!

Isaiah 42:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 42:17

They shall be turned back
Either from their former course, from their idolatry and their idols, and be converted, and turn to the living God; or it may be understood of such Gentiles as were not converted, when others were, who should be put to flight, and should fly to the rocks and mountains to hide and cover them from the wrath of God; for this phrase is used of the overthrow of enemies, of their being obliged to turn their backs and flee: they shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven images;
as converted persons when they come to be convinced of the folly of their idolatrous practices are; and if not converted, yet are confounded when they find their idols cannot help and assist them, nor deliver them out of their trouble: that say to the molten images, ye are our gods;
as the Israelites did to the molten calf made by Aaron; and the stupidity of the one and the other is much alike; this of the Gentiles, and that of the Israelites.

Isaiah 42:17 In-Context

15 I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn rivers into islands, and dry up marshes.
16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them, and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
17 They will be turned back [and] utterly ashamed- those who trust in idols and say to metal-plated images: You are our gods!
18 "Listen, you deaf! Look, you blind, so that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like My messenger I am sending? Who is blind like [My] dedicated one, or blind like the servant of the Lord?
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