Yesaya 44:12

44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool ¹ 

and forges metal over the coals.

He forms it ²  with hammers;

he makes it with his strong arm.

He gets hungry and loses his energy; ³ 

he drinks no water and gets tired.

Yesaya 48:1

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ⁴ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ⁵ 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ⁶  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ⁷ 

[44:12]  ¹ tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.

[44:12]  ² tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.

[44:12]  ³ tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”

[48:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

[48:1]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

[48:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

[48:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”