the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
King James Version
Isaiah 46:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalDevotionals:
- EveryParallel Translations
Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;Their images are on the beasts and the cattle.The things that you carry are burdensome,A load for the weary beast.
Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle. The things that you carry are burdensome, A load for the weary beast.
Bel is fallen, Nabo is broken downe, whose images were a burthen for the beastes and cattell, to ouerlade them, and to make them weerie.
Bel is bowed down, Nebo bendeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things ye carried are laid on, a burden to the weary [beast].
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. Your carriages were heavily loaded, A burden to the weary beast.
Bel has bowed; Nebo stoops; their idols are for the beast, and for the cattle; your things carried are loads; a burden for the weary.
The Lord says, "Bel has fallen to the ground. Nebo is kneeling before me. "Men put those idols on the backs of animals. They are only heavy burdens that must be carried. They do nothing but make people tired.
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the cattle: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary [animal].
Bel boweth downe, Nebo stoupeth, their idoles were vpon the beasts, and vpon the cattell: your carriages were heauie loaden, they are a burden to the wearie beast.
Neuertheles Bel shal fall, & Nabo shalbe broken: whose ymages are a burthe for the beastes and catell, to ouerlade the, and to make them weery.
The god Bel falls down, god Nebo slumps. The no-god hunks of wood are loaded on mules And have to be hauled off, wearing out the poor mules— Dead weight, burdens who can't bear burdens, hauled off to captivity.
Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their idols are on the beasts [of burden] and on the cattle. Your burdens [of idols] are loaded [on them], Burdens on the weary animals.
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary beast.
Bel is bent down, Nebo is falling; their images are on the beasts and on the cattle: the things which you took about have become a weight to the tired beast.
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the beasts, and on the cattle: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary [beast].
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your loads [were] heavy; [they were] a burden to the weary [beast].
Bel and Nebo bow down. Their idols are carried by animals. The statues are only heavy loads that must be carried; they only make people tired.
Bel kneels down, Nebo bends low. Their images weigh down animals and beasts. Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals.
The Lord said: The gods Bel and Nebo are down on their knees, as wooden images of them are carried away on weary animals.
Bel bows down, N'vo stoops low; their idols are borne by animals, beasts of burden. The loads you yourselves were carrying are now burdening tired animals.
Bel is bowed downe: Nebo is fallen: their idoles were vpon the beastes, and vpon the cattell: they which did beare you, were laden with a wearie burden.
BEL has fallen down, Nebo is overthrown; their idols were loaded as burdens upon beasts, yea, upon weary beasts and cattle.
Bel bows down, Nevo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the cattle: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary [animal].
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle; the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary beast.
Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon, bow as they are lowered to the ground. They are being hauled away on ox carts. The poor beasts stagger under the weight.
The false gods, Bel and Nebo, bow down. Their objects of worship were put on animals and cattle and the wagons had heavy loads making it hard for the tired animals.
Bel has fallen, Nabo is broken to pieces, their graven images are gone to the wild beasts and the cattle: ye take them packed up as a burden to the weary, exhausted, hungry, and at the same time helpless man;
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary beast.
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary animals.
Bel, hath crouched, Nebo, is cowering, Their images, are delivered up to beast and to cattle, - The things ye carried about, are become a load, A burden, to the weary!
Bel is broken, Nebo is destroyed: their idols are put upon beasts and cattle, your burdens of heavy weight even unto weariness.
Bel bows down; Nebo is stooping. Their idols are on animals and on cattle; your cargo is carried as a burden on weary animals.
Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts.
Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their idols have become loads for the animals and the cattle. The things that you carry are burdensome, A load for the weary animal.
"This is the end for Babylon's gods! Bel and Nebo once were worshiped, but now they are loaded on donkeys, a burden for the backs of tired animals.
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols are consigned to beasts and cattle. The images you carry are loaded, as a burden for the weary animal.
Bel is brokun, Nabo is al to-brokun; her symylacris lijk to wielde beestis and werk beestis ben brokun; youre birthuns
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary beasts.
Bowed down hath Bel, stooping is Nebo, Their idols have been for the beast and for cattle, Your burdens are loaded, a burden to the weary.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Bel: Bel, called Belus by the Greek and Roman writers, is the same as Baal; and Nebo is interpreted by Castell and Norberg of Mercury; the two principal idols of Babylon. When that city was taken by the Persians, these images were carried in triumph. Isaiah 21:9, Isaiah 41:6, Isaiah 41:7, Exodus 12:12, 1 Samuel 5:3, Jeremiah 48:1-25, Jeremiah 50:2, Jeremiah 51:44, Jeremiah 51:47, Jeremiah 51:52
a burden: Isaiah 2:20, Jeremiah 10:5
Reciprocal: Genesis 31:30 - my gods Numbers 32:38 - Nebo Judges 6:31 - if he be Judges 18:17 - the graven 2 Samuel 5:21 - burned them 2 Kings 19:18 - have cast 2 Chronicles 25:15 - which could Job 39:11 - leave Psalms 96:5 - For Psalms 115:4 - Their idols Isaiah 19:1 - the idols Isaiah 30:6 - burden Isaiah 37:19 - And have Isaiah 44:9 - and their Jeremiah 25:12 - that I Jeremiah 43:12 - in the Jeremiah 48:7 - Chemosh Jeremiah 48:13 - ashamed Jeremiah 50:38 - the land Jeremiah 51:18 - in the Ezekiel 23:14 - portrayed Daniel 3:14 - my gods Daniel 4:8 - Belteshazzar Daniel 11:8 - their gods Hosea 10:6 - carried Nahum 1:14 - out Habakkuk 2:18 - profiteth
Cross-References
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord ; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord , and called upon the name of the Lord .
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.
And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord , the everlasting God.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Ver. 1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth,.... These are names of the idols of Babylon. Bel is by some thought to be the contraction of Baal, the god of the Phoenicians, called by them Beel; so "Beelsamin" h, in the Phoenician language, is Lord of heaven: but rather this is the Belus of the Babylonians, who was a renowned king of them, and after his death deified; whom Nebuchadnezzar, according to Megasthenes i, calls Belus his progenitor, and by whom Babylon was walled about. This idol is, no doubt, the same with Jupiter Belus, who had a temple in Babylon with gates of brass, and which was in being in the times of Herodotus k, as he reports. This name is sometimes taken into the names of their kings, as Belshazzar or Beltesbazaar. Nebo was another of their idols, an oracular one, from whom, by its priests, prophesies of things future were pretended to be given out; for it may have its name from נבא, "to prophesy", and answers to the Apollo or Mercury of other nations. The Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint has very wrongly, instead of it, Dagon the god of the Philistines; and so the Arabic version "Dsagon". This name Nebo was also taken into the names of the kings of Babylon, as Nabonassar, Nabopalassar, Nebuchadnezzar, and others. As Bel is the same with Belus, so Nebo is the same with Beltis, the queen Megasthenes or Abydenus speaks of in the same place; and Bel may design the sun, and Nebo the moon, which may have its name from
נוב, "to bud forth", or "make fruitful", as the moon does; see
Deuteronomy 33:14. It is said of both these deities, that they "stooped" or "bowed down"; being taken down from the high places where they were set upright, and looked grand and majestic, and where they might be seen and worshipped by the people. Jarchi gives the words another sense, that it represents in a sarcastic way these idols, as through fear, in a like condition that men are in, in a fit of the colic, who not being able to get to the solid stool, are obliged to bend their knees, and ease themselves as they can l. Aben Ezra seems to refer to the same signification of the word, when he says the sense was well known, but it was not fit to write it. The prophet goes on in the derision of these idols:
their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle; that is, being taken down, and broke to pieces for the sake of the silver, and gold, and brass that were about them, or they were made of, they were put into sacks by the Persians, and laid upon camels, and mules, and horses, and transported into Media and Persia. Jarchi interprets it, their idols are like to beasts, which defile themselves with their dung as they do; and so the Targum renders it,
"their images are "in" the likeness of serpents and beasts.''
These were the forms of them:
your carriages were heavy loaden, they are a burden to the weary beast; this seems to be spoken to the Persians, who loaded their carriages, and their beasts, with this lumber, that their wagons were ready to break down, and their cattle groaned under the weight of it; a sarcastic jeer at the idols which were become the plunder and prey of the soldiers. It was usual at the taking of cities to demolish the idols of them; and this was typical of the demolition of Heathen idols, and the cessation of Heathen oracles in the Gentile world, through the spread of the Gospel in it, in the first times of Christianity.
h Sanchoniatho apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. c. 10. p. 34. i Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. l. p. 456. k Clio, sive l. 1. c. 181. Vid. Pausan. Messen. p. 261. l Vid. gloss. in T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 63. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Bel boweth down - Bel or Belus (בל bēl, from בעל be‛ēl, the same as בעל ba‛al was the chief domestic god of the Babylonians, and was worshipped in the celebrated tower of Babylon (compare Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:44). It was usual to compound names of the titles of the divinities that were worshipped, and hence, we often meet with this name, as in Bel-shazzar, Bel-teshazzar, Baal-Peor, Baal-zebub, Baal-Gad, Baal-Berith. The Greek and Roman writers compare Bel with Jupiter, and the common name which they give to this idol is Jupiter Belus (Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxxvii. 10; Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 16; Diod. ii. 8, 9). Herodotus (i. 181-183) says, that in the center of each division of the city of Babylon (for the Euphrates divided the city into two parts) there is a circular space surrounded by a wall. In one of these stands the royal palace, which fills a large and strongly defended space.
The temple of Jupiter Belus, says he, occupies the other, whose huge gates of brass may still be seen. It is a square building, each side of which is of the length of two furlongs. In the midst, a tower rises of the solid depth and height of one furlong; on which, resting as a base, seven other turrets are built in regular succession. The ascent on the outside, winding from the ground, is continued to the highest tower; and in the middle of the whole structure there is a convenient resting place. In this temple there is a small chapel, which contains a figure of Jupiter in a sitting posture, with a large table before him; these, with the base of the table, and the sear of the throne, are all of the purest gold. There was formerly in this temple a statue of solid gold, twelve cubits high. This was seized, says Herodotus, by Xerxes, who put the priest to death who endeavored to prevent its removal.
The upper room of this tower was occupied as an observatory. The idol Baal, or Bel, was especially the god of the Phenicians, of the Canaanites, of the Chaldeans, of the Moabites, and of some of the surrounding nations. The most common opinion has been, that the idol was the sun (see the notes at Isaiah 17:8-9), and that, under this name, this luminary received divine honors. But Gesenius supposes that by the name Jupiter Belus was not denoted Jupiter, ‘the father of the gods,’ but the planet Jupiter, Stella Jovis, which was regarded, together with Venus, as the giver of all good fortune; and which forms with Venus the most fortunate of all constellations under which sovereigns can be born. The planet Jupiter, therefore, he supposes to have been worshipped under the name Bel, and the planet Venus under the name of Astarte, or Astareth (see Gesenius, Commentary zu Isaiah, ii. 333ff, and Robinson’s Calmet, Art. Baal). The phrase ‘boweth down,’ means here, probably, that the idol sunk down, fell, or was removed. It was unable to defend the city, and was taken captive, and carried away. Jerome renders Confractus est Bel - ‘Bel is broken.’ The Septuagint, Ἔπεσε Βὴλ Epese Bēl - ‘Bel has fallen.’ Perhaps in the language there is allusion to the fact that Dagon fell before the ark of God 1 Samuel 5:2-3, 1 Samuel 5:7. The sense is, that even the object of worship - that which was regarded as the most sacred among the Chaldeans - would be removed.
Nebo stoopeth - This was an idol-god of the Chaldeans. In the astrological mythology of the Babylonians, according to Gesenius (Commentary zu Isaiah ii. 333ff), this idol was the planet Mercury. He is regarded as the scribe of the heavens, who records the succession of the celestial and terrestrial events; and is related to the Egyptian Hermes and Anubis. The extensive worship of this idol among the Chaldeans and Assyrians is evident from the many compound proper names occurring in the Scriptures, of which this word forms a part, as Neb-uchadnezzar, Neb-uzaradan: and also in the classics, as Nab-onad, Nab-onassar. Nebo was, therefore, regarded as an attendant on Bel, or as his scribe. The exact form of the idol is, however, unknown. The word ‘stoopeth,’ means that it had fallen down, as when one is struck dead he falls suddenly to the earth; and the language denotes conquest, where even the idols so long worshipped would be thrown down. The scene is in Babylon, and the image in the mind of the prophet is that of the city taken, and the idols that were worshipped thrown down by the conqueror, and carried away in triumph.
Their idols were upon the beasts - That is, they are laid upon the beasts to be borne away in triumph. It was customary for conquerors to carry away all that was splendid and valuable, to grace their triumph on their return; and nothing would be a more certain indication of victory, or a more splendid accompaniment to a triumph, than the gods whom the vanquished nations had adored. Thus in Jeremiah 48:7, it is said, ‘And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, with his priests and his princes together’ (compare Jeremiah 44:3, margin.)
Your carriages - That is, they were laden with the idols that were thus borne off in triumph.
They are a burden - They are so numerous; so heavy; and to be borne so far. This is a very striking and impressive manner of foretelling that the city of Babylon would be destroyed. Instead of employing the direct language of prophecy, the prophet represents himself as seeing the heavy laden animals and wagons moving along slowly, pressed down under the weight of the captured gods to be borne into the distant country of the conqueror. They move forth from Babylon, and the caravan laden with the idols, the spoils of victory, is seen slowly moving forward to a distant land.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XLVI
The idols of Babylon represented as so far from being able to
bear the burden of their votaries, that they themselves are
borne by beasts of burden into captivity, 1, 2.
This beautifully contrasted with the tender care of God, in
bearing his people from first to last in his arms, and
delivering them from their distress, 3, 4.
The prophet, then, with his usual force and elegance, goes on
to show the folly of idolatry, and the utter inability of
idols, 5-7.
From which he passes with great ease to the contemplation of
the attributes and perfections of the true God, 8-10.
Particularly that prescience which foretold the deliverance of
the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, with all its leading
circumstances; and also that very remote event of which it is
the type in the days of the Messiah, 11-13.
NOTES ON CHAP. XLVI
Verse Isaiah 46:1. Their carriages were heavy loaden - "Their burdens are heavy"] For נשאתיכם nesuotheychem, your burdens, the Septuagint had in their copy נשאתיהם nesuotheyhem, their burdens.
