Isaiah 44:19

19 He does not return to his right mind; he does not have knowledge nor intelligence to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; I have also baked bread upon the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Do I have to humble myself before the trunk of a tree?

Isaiah 44:19 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 44:19

And none considereth in his heart
Or, "and he does not return it to his heart" F11; he does not come to himself again, or return to his right mind, but lives and dies under the infatuation; never once revolving it in his mind, pondering within himself what he has done, or is doing, whether right or wrong: neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say;
within himself, and reason the matter in his own mind, and thus express himself: I have burnt part of it in the fire;
to warm myself with: yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof;
both heated the oven, and baked bread with it; and also upon the live coals have laid kneaded dough, and baked a cake on them: and I have roasted flesh, and eaten it;
made a fire with another part of it, and roasted meat at it, and ate it with great pleasure and satisfaction: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination?
an idol, which is an abominable thing to God, and to all men of sense and goodness: shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
or "the bud of a tree?" F12 or that which is made out of a tree of my own planting, cutting down, and hewing, part of which has been used to the above purposes; and the remaining lifeless log, shall I worship it as a god? and yet, though such reasoning might be justly expected from a man that is a reasonable creature, sottish are idolaters, that they seem to be quite deprived of their rational powers, or at least these are disused by them.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (wbl la byvy alw) "et non reducet ad cor suum", Pagninus, Montanus; "reducit", Piscator.
F12 (Ue lwbl) "ante id quod provenit ex abore", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "germen ligni", Forerius.

Isaiah 44:19 In-Context

17 the residue of it he turns into god, into his graven image; he humbles himself before it and worships it and prays unto it and says, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
18 They did not know nor understand; for he has anointed their eyes that they not see and their hearts that they not understand.
19 He does not return to his right mind; he does not have knowledge nor intelligence to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; I have also baked bread upon the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Do I have to humble myself before the trunk of a tree?
20 The ashes feed him; his deceived heart inclines him, that he not deliver his soul and say, Is not the lie at my right hand?
21 Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel: that thou art my slave: I have formed thee; thou art my slave, O Israel, do not forget me.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010