Isaiah 44:9-11

The argument opens with the assertion of the nothingness alike of the idol and its makers. Fear on the part of Israel would be justified if other gods besides Jehovah had any power to influence the course of history.

a graven image for "image" in general, as ch. Isaiah 40:19. The writer assumes that the god is the image and nothing more; since the image is plainly the work of human hands, the god cannot be greater than men or able to save them. This of course is directly opposed to the fundamental assumption of the idolaters themselves, who distinguished between the image and the divinity represented by it (see on Isaiah 44:11).

vanity lit. "chaos," as in Isaiah 40:17; Isaiah 41:29.

their delectablethings] "the objects in which they delight," i.e. the idols.

and theyare their own witnesses R.V. "and their own witnesses see not," etc. Render simply: and their witnesses; their devotees, see ch. Isaiah 43:9. The pronoun which suggests the "own" of A.V. and R.V. is marked by the so-called puncta extraordinariaas suspicious, and is therefore unaccented. If it is retained in the text (as it may very well be) the better translation is, "and as for their witnesses, they see not" &c.

that they may be ashamed The consequence of their ignorance expressed as a purpose.