Isaiah Chapter 40 verse 20 Holy Bible
He that is too impoverished for `such' an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be moved.
read chapter 40 in ASV
The wise workman makes selection of the mulberry-tree of the offering, a wood which will not become soft; so that the image may be fixed to it and not be moved.
read chapter 40 in BBE
He that is impoverished, so that he hath no offering, chooseth a tree that doth not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilled workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.
read chapter 40 in DARBY
He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
read chapter 40 in KJV
read chapter 40 in WBT
He who is too impoverished for [such] an offering chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks to him a skillful workman to set up an engraved image, that shall not be moved.
read chapter 40 in WEB
He who is poor `by' heave-offerings, A tree not rotten doth choose, A skilful artizan he seeketh for it, To establish a graven image -- not moved.
read chapter 40 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 20. - He that is so impoverished, etc.; rather, he that can only make a poor offering, i.e. that cannot spend much on religion. Chooseth a tree; rather, chooseth wood - goes to the carpenter, and selects a good sound block of wood, out of which his idol shall be made. After this he has to find a skilful workman, who will carve his image for him and set it up, so that it shall not shake. As Delitzsch observes, "The thing carries its own satire" in the mere plain description of it. Is such a thing comparable to God?
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(20) He that is so impoverished . . .--The transition is abrupt, but the intention apparently is to represent idolatry at its opposite extremes of the elaborate art in which kings and princes delighted, and the rude rough image, hardly more than a fetiche, the inutile lignum of Horace, "which cannot be moved," standing on its own wide base, so as not to fall.
