Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, “Be strong!”
- KJV They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
- NKJV Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, “Be of good courage!”
- NASB Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
- NLT The idol makers encourage one another, saying to each other, “Be strong!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In fear, the nations encourage one another to keep making idols.
Overview
Faced with God's unsettling acts in history, the peoples respond not by repentance but by mutual encouragement to produce more idols. The verse satirizes their misplaced confidence. Human solidarity in false worship is no defense against the living God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 44:12The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.
- 1 Sam 4:7–9the Philistines were afraid. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before.
- Isa 35:4Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
- Isa 40:19To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
- Dan 3:1–7King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
- Acts 19:24–28It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.
- Joel 3:9–11Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
- 1 Sam 5:3–5When 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.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 41:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.