Isaías 44:14

14 Corta cedros;
escoge cipreses y robles;
planta pinos en el bosque
para que la lluvia los alimente.

Isaías 44:14 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 44:14

He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak,
&c.] To make gods of, trees both pleasant and durable, but all unfruitful: which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest;
taking a great deal of pains in seeking out such trees as were most fit for his use, and a great deal of care in the growth of them, that they might answer his end, as well as exerting his strength in cutting of them down: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it;
a tree that soon grows up, and which he plants for the purpose to make a god of; and this being watered and nourished with rain, which God vouchsafes, though designed for an idolatrous use, grows, and is fit for what it was intended; and being so, he cuts it down, and, makes an image of it; which shows his folly and madness, that a tree of his own planting, which he has seen the growth of, and yet be so sottish as to imagine that a god may be may be made of it. The word for "rain" signifies a body in the Syriac ^F7 language, as Kimchi observes, and for which he produces ( Daniel 4:33 ) , and so Aben Ezra says it signifies in the Arabic language ^F8; and the sense is, "the body" of the tree "grew up", and being grown up, was cut down, and used as follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 <arabic> "corpus", Luke iii. 22. 2Cor. x. 10. Castel. Lex. Polyglott. col. 627. So in the Chaldee language.
F8 So, according to Schindler, <arabic> signifies a body, Lex. Pentaglott. col. 347, 348.

Isaías 44:14 In-Context

12 El herrero se ubica frente a su fragua para hacer una herramienta afilada,
martillándola y dándole forma con todas sus fuerzas.
Su trabajo le da hambre y se siente débil;
le da sed y se siente desmayar.

13 Después el tallador mide un bloque de madera
y sobre él traza un diseño.
Trabaja con el cincel y el cepillo
y lo talla formando una figura humana.
Le da belleza humana
y lo pone en un pequeño santuario.

14 Corta cedros;
escoge cipreses y robles;
planta pinos en el bosque
para que la lluvia los alimente.

15 Luego usa parte de la madera para hacer fuego
y con esto se calienta y hornea su pan.
Después, aunque parezca increíble, toma lo que queda
y se hace un dios para rendirle culto;
hace un ídolo
y se inclina ante él.

16 Quema parte del árbol para asar la carne
y para darse calor.
Dice: «Ah, ¡qué bien se siente uno con este fuego!».