Isaiah 41:7

7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is well joined and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

Isaiah 41:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 41:7

So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith
The carpenter, when he had made a wooden image, encouraged and hastened the goldsmith, or the "finer", as some render it, to do his part, in covering it with plates of gold or silver: and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil;
he that beat out thin plates of gold and silver with the hammer, in order to decorate the wooden god, encouraged the smith at the forge, that smote on the anvil, there making nails for the fastening it to a pillar or wall, to hasten his work: saying, it is ready for the sodering;
for the several joints to be put together, by sodering them: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved;
either the goldsmith and finer fastened the plates of gold and silver with nails, that they might be kept fast and close to it; or the smith that smote on the anvil, and made the nails, he fastened the image with them at some proper place, that so it might not fall, or be taken away. All which, as it represents the hurry and solicitude idolaters were in to keep up their craft and religion, so it exposes them to ridicule and contempt.

Isaiah 41:7 In-Context

5 The isles saw it and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid; they congregated and came.
6 Each one helped his neighbour; and each one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is well joined and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8 But thou, Israel, my slave, Jacob whom I have chosen, art the seed of Abraham my friend.
9 For I have taken thee from the ends of the earth and called thee from the boundaries thereof and said unto thee Thou shalt be my slave; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010