Isaiah 44:14

14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it.

Isaiah 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.

Isaiah 44:14 In-Context

12 The smith [makes] an ax, and works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.

13 The carpenter stretches out a line; he marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with planes, and he marks it out with the compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.

14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it.

15 Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he takes of it, and warms himself; yes, he kindles it, and bakes bread: yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it.

16 He burns part of it in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied; yes, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.