Isaiah 41:7
5 The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward.
6 Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.
8 “But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
9 I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.
- KJV
- So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
- WEB
- So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smooths with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good;” and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.
- ASV
- So the carpenter encourageth the goldsmith, [and] he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that is should not be moved.
- DARBY
- And the artizan encouraged the founder, he that smootheth [with] the hammer him that smiteth on the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that it be not moved.
- BLB
- And the craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, the one smoothing [with] the hammer, the one striking the anvil, saying of the joining, “It [is] Good!”—And he strengthens it with nails, and it will not be toppled.
- ÅB
- Treskjæreren setter mot i gullsmeden, den som glatter med hammeren, i den som hamrer på ambolten, og han sier om loddingen: Den er god, og han fester bildet med spiker, for at det skal stå støtt.
- OTB
- Håndverkeren oppmuntrer gullsmeden, og han som glatter med hammeren oppmuntrer ham som slår på ambolten. De sier om loddet, "Det er godt." De fester det med spiker så det ikke skal velte.
- B1930
- Treskjæreren setter mot i gullsmeden, den som glatter med hammeren, i den som hamrer på ambolten, og han sier om loddingen: Den er god, og han fester billedet med spiker, forat det skal stå støtt.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 40:19–20
To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
Read in contextDaniel 3:1–7
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Read in contextIsaiah 44:12–15
The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.
Read in contextJudges 18:24
He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
Read in contextJeremiah 10:3–5
For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
Read in contextJudges 18:17–18
And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.
Read in contextIsaiah 46:6–7
They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
Read in contextJeremiah 10:9
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz— the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
Read in context