Isaiah 46:1

Translations

Modern

Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.

Traditional

Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.

Literal

Bel bows down, Nebo is stooping low; their idols are on the beasts and on the cattle, these carried by you were heavy laden a burden to the weary.

Latin

Confractus est Bel, contritus est Nabo; facta sunt simulacra eorum bestiis et jumentis, onera vestra gravi pondere usque ad lassitudinem.

Original

Hebrew

English

Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.

Notes

Isaiah 46:1

Marduk-bel was the most important god in the Babylonian group of gods. Bel, similar to Baal, meant lordship.
Nebo (Nabu, Nebu), the patron god of Babylonian scribes, was believed to be the son of Marduk-bel.
Instead of being celebrated at a Babylonian festival, people would transport these gods on ox carts and discard them, as the Babylonian people rejected them.

Isaiah 46:1–2

This taunt was against the self-contradiction of Babylonian religion.

A taunt is a mocking song or speech. In this passage, the prophet makes fun of Babylon’s beliefs. The message shows that their religion does not make sense.

Theme notes and profiles

Isaiah God’s Servant Salvation in Isaiah

Events

Prophecies of Isaiahc. 759 BC

Related verses

Isaiah 21:9
Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
Jeremiah 51:44
I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.
Jeremiah 50:2
“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’
1 Samuel 5:3
When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
Jeremiah 10:5
Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
Jeremiah 51:47
Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her.
Exodus 12:12
On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
Jeremiah 48:1–25
Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.
Isaiah 41:6–7
Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
Jeremiah 51:52
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.
Isaiah 2:20
In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.

People

Bel: Babylonian god, associated with Marduk Nebo: A Babylonian god and a mountain in Moab

Glossary

Bel Church Gods and Goddesses Isaiah, Book of Monotheism Nebo (Deity) New Creation, New Creature Ransom

Topics

Babylon: City of Prophecies Concerning Bel: A Babylonian God Idolatry: Folly of Idolatry: Idols Mentioned in Scripture: Nebo Isaiah: Prophecies, Reproofs, and Exhortations of Denounces the Evils of Idolatry Nebo: A Babylonian Idol

Isaiah 46:1

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Translations

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Events

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