Isaiah 44:19

And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

44:9-20 Image-making is described, to expose the folly of idolaters. Though a man had used part of a log for fuel, he fell down before an image made of the remainder, praying it to deliver him. Man greatly dishonours God, when he represents him after the image of man. Satan blinds the eyes of unbelievers, causing absurd reasonings in matters of religion. Whether men seek happiness in worldly things, or run into unbelief, superstition, or any false system, they feed on ashes. A heart deceived by pride, love of sin, and departure from God, turns men aside from his holy truth and worship. While the affections are depraved, a man holds fast the lie as his best treasure. Are our hearts set upon the wealth of the world and its pleasures? They will certainly prove a lie. If we trust to outward professions and doings, as if those would save us, we deceive ourselves. Self-suspicion is the first step towards self-deliverance. He that would deliver his soul, must question his conscience, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And none considereth in his heart - Margin, 'Setteth to.' He does not place the subject near his heart or mind; he does not think of it. A similar phrase occurs in Isaiah 46:8 : 'Bring it again to mind.' It is a phrase drawn from the act of placing an object near us, in order to examine it closely; and we express the same idea by the phrase 'looking at a thing,' or 'looking at it closely.' The sense is, they had not attentively and carefully thought on the folly of what they were doing - a sentiment which is as true of all sinners as it was of stupid idolaters.

An abomination - A name that is often given to an idol 2 Kings 11:5, 2 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13. The meaning is, that an idol was abominable and detestable in the sight of a holy God. It was that which he could not endure.

Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? - Margin, 'That which comes of.' The word בוּל bûl means properly "produce, increase," and here evidently a stock or trunk of wood. So it is in the Chaldee.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. considereth—literally, "layeth it to heart," (Isa 42:25; Jer 12:11).

abomination—the scriptural term for an idol, not merely abominable, but the essence of what is so, in the eyes of a jealous God (1Ki 11:5, 7).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

None considereth in his heart; whereby he implies that the true cause of this, as well as of other absurd and brutish practices of sinners, is the neglect of serious and impartial consideration of things.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And none considereth in his heart,.... Or, "and he does not return it to his heart" (k); 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?" (l) 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.

(k) "et non reducet ad cor suum", Pagninus, Montanus; "reducit", Piscator. (l) "ante id quod provenit ex abore", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "germen ligni", Forerius.

Geneva Study Bible

And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. considereth in his heart] R.V. calleth to mind; lit. “bringeth it back to his heart,” i.e. “recalls in thought,” a somewhat rare expression (see ch. Isaiah 46:8; Deuteronomy 4:39; Deuteronomy 30:1; 1 Kings 8:47).

part of it] See on Isaiah 44:16. The word rendered stock occurs again only in Job 40:20, where it seems to mean “produce.”

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - None considereth in his heart; literally, recalls it to his heart; i.e. returns to a sound way of thinking upon the subject. It is implied that the idolaters had once had it in their power to think and reason justly upon the absurdity of such conduct as that which was now habitual to them. But they had lost the power. They had suffered themselves little by little to be deluded. The stock of a tree. The marginal rendering, "that which comes of a tree," is preferable. Isaiah 44:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

So irrational is idolatry; but yet, through self-hardening, they have fallen under the judgment of hardness of heart (Isaiah 6:9-10; Isaiah 19:3; Isaiah 29:10), and have been given up to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28). "They perceive not, and do not understand: for their eyes are smeared over, so that they do not see; their hearts, so that they do not understand. And men take it not to heart, no perception and no understanding, that men should say, The half of it I have burned in the fire, and also baked bread upon the coals thereof; roasted flesh, and eaten: and ought I to make the rest of it an abomination, to fall down before the produce of a tree?" Instead of טח, Leviticus 14:42, the third person is written טח (from tâchach, Ges. 72, Anm. 8) in a circumstantial sense: their eyes are, as it were, smeared over with plaster. The expression אל־לב השׁיב or על־לב (Isaiah 46:8), literally to carry back into the heart, which we find as well as על־לב שׂים, to take to heart (Isaiah 42:25), answers exactly to the idea of reflection, here with reference to the immense contrast between a piece of wood and the Divine Being. The second and third לא in Isaiah 44:19 introduce substantive clauses, just as verbal clauses are introduced by ואין. לאמר is used in the same manner as in Isaiah 9:8 : "perception and insight showing themselves in their saying." On būl, see Job 40:20; the meaning "block" cannot be established: the talmudic būl, a lump or piece, which Ewald adduces, is the Greek βῶλος.