the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
full
וַתִּמָּלֵ֥אva.ti.ma.Le'
H4390
to fill or (intransitively) be full of · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
idols
אֱלִילִ֑ים'e.li.Lim
H457
good for nothing · noun, common masculine plural absolute
worship
יִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֔וּyish.ta.cha.Vu
H7812
to depress · verb, hithpael imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
work
לְמַעֲשֵׂ֤הle.ma.'a.Seh
H4639
an action (good or bad) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
hands
יָדָיו֙ya.Dav
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fingers
אֶצְבְּעֹתָֽיו'etz.be.'o.Tav
H676
something to sieze with · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
made
עָשׂ֖וּ'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 115:4-8 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Revelation 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship de…
Isaiah 37:19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed th…
Jeremiah 2:28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the numb…
Deuteronomy 4:28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
2 Chronicles 27:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the templ…
2 Chronicles 28:2-4 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.
2 Chronicles 28:23-25 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 2:6-9
The calling in of the Gentiles was accompanied with the rejection of the Jews; it was their fall, and the diminishing of them, that was the riches of the Gentiles; and the casting off of them was the reconciling of the world (Rom 11:12-15); and it should seem that these verses have reference to that, and are designed to justify God therein, and yet it is probable that they are primarily intended for the convincing and awakening of the men of that generation in which the prophet lived, it being usual with the prophets to speak of the things that then were, both in mercy and judgment, as types of the things that should be hereafter. Here is,
I. Israel's doom. This is set forth in two words, th…
(Hos 8:4). Not so much public idolatry, which was not sanctioned in Uzziah's and Jotham's reign, but (see Kg2 15:4, Kg2 15:35) as private.
John Gill on Isaiah 2:8
Their land also is full of idols,.... Of the Virgin Mary, and of saints departed, whose images are set up to be worshipped in all their churches, and had in private houses:
and they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made; namely, idols of gold, silver, brass, wood, and stone, Revelation 9:20.
John Calvin on Isaiah 2:8
Their land is also full of idols He repeats what he had already noticed about idolatry, but enters into it more fully; and, having first mentioned the subject itself, he next speaks of the use of it, which almost always follows. It seldom happens that we do not abuse idols when they are set up among us, for it is as when fire has been applied to a pile of wood, which must immediately burn; and wood is not more ready to be set on fire than we are to follow superstition. In the Hebrew language idols are very properly denominated by the word 'lylym, (elilim) which the Prophet here employs, for they are empty things, and of no value. [40] And undoubtedly the Holy Spirit intended by this word to…
Not only do human beings "make gods for themselves" from statues, but you will also find them "making gods for themselves" from their imaginations. For such people can imagine another god and creator of the world in a system different from the divine plan of the world recorded by the Spirit, other than the true world. These all have "made gods for themselves," and they have "worshiped the works of their hands." So, too, I believe is the case either among the Greeks who generate opinions, so to speak, of this philosophy or that, or among the heretics, the first who generate opinions. These have "made idols for themselves" and figments of the soul, and by turning to them "they worship the works of their hands," since they accept as truth their own fabrications.
(Verse 8) And the land was filled with silver and gold, and there was no end to its treasure. Among the other vices of the earth, the house of Jacob is also counted for its abundance of gold and silver. Among all the omens and divinations, the horses and chariots that God prohibited the kings of Israel from multiplying are condemned. Among the idols, which are the works of human hands, greed is condemned. Therefore, the Lord commanded in the Gospel not to store up treasures for ourselves on earth, and not to make treasures that can be stolen by thieves, ultimately stating: You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). However, that little phrase is beautiful: The miser always lacks, as the Prophet indicates with these words: 'And there is no end to his treasures.' Not that treasures do not have an end, but that the mind of the possessor is not satisfied. Both the Jewish and Roman nations are stung by these words of greed. Indeed, both Greek and Latin histories recount that there is nothing more greedy than the Jewish and Roman peoples. The law on recovering misappropriated funds was established, and we see every day that Apostolic saying being fulfilled: You who forbid stealing, do you steal? (Rom. II, 21). The judge hears the thief and condemns the more thieving judge, while passing judgment on someone else. And his land is filled with horses and his innumerable chariots. For it is not worthy to be numbered what is possessed against the command of God. Hence it says in the Psalms: A deceitful horse for salvation (Psalm 32:17). And in Exodus: He threw the horse and the charioteer into the sea (Exodus 15:1). And in another psalm: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will invoke the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:8). However, both can be understood, that the people of Judah multiplied horses and chariots against God's command, and that the land of Judah is filled with the horses and chariots of the victors.
Dictionary and topics
Worship — Homage rendered to God which it is sinful (idolatry) to render to any created being (Ex. 34:14; Isa. 2:8). Such worship was refused by Peter (Acts 10:25, 26) and by an angel (Rev. 22:8, 9).
Idolatry · Great prevalence of, in Israel — Great prevalence of, in Israel
Isaiah · and distrust of God — and distrust of God
Jews, The · National character of: Prone to idolatry — National character of: Prone to idolatry
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 2:7-8
In Isa 2:7, Isa 2:8 he describes still further how the land of the people of Jehovah, in consequence of all this (on the future consec. see Ges. 129, 2, a), was crammed full of objects of luxury, of self-confidence, of estrangement from God: "And their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end of their treasures; and their land is filled with horses, and there is no end of their chariots. And their land is filled with - idols; the work of their own hands they worship, that which their own fingers have made." The glory of Solomon, which revived under Uzziah's fifty-two years' reign, and was sustained through Jotham's reign of sixteen years, carried with it the curse of the law;…
Isaiah pointed out all the things that people substitute for the true God: material achievements and securities (silver . . . treasures), military strength (warhorses . . . chariots), and objects of affection (idols). Such wealth and military strength characterized the reign of King Uzziah (2 Chr 26:6-21). Elsewhere, Isaiah pointed out the sheer folly of worshiping anything that is made with one’s own hands (see Isa 44:9-20; 45:16).
Rashi on Isaiah 2:8
they prostrate themselves Heb. ישתחוו. Although the form is future, it is to be rendered like מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים, they prostrate themselves.
