Footnotes

1. Isaiah 44:11 tn The pronoun “his” probably refers to the one who forms/casts an idol (v. 10), in which case it refers to the craftsman’s associates in the idol-manufacturing guild.
2. Isaiah 44:11 sn The point seems to be this: if the idols are the mere products of human hands, then those who trust in them will be disappointed, for man-made gods are incapable of helping their “creators.”
3. Isaiah 44:12 tn The noun מַעֲצָד (maʿatsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.
4. Isaiah 44:12 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.
5. Isaiah 44:12 tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”
6. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
7. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
8. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
9. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
10. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”