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Selected Verse: Isaiah 2:20 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 2:20	Strong Concordance	In that day [03117] a man [0120] shall cast [07993] his idols [0457] of silver [03701], and his idols [0457] of gold [02091], which they made each one for himself [06213] to worship [07812], to the moles [02661] [06512] and to the bats [05847];
	King James	In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
moles--Others translate "mice." The sense is, under ground, in darkness. bats--unclean birds (Lev 11:19), living amidst tenantless ruins (Rev 11:13).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

moles--Others translate "mice." The sense is, under ground, in darkness.

bats--unclean birds (Lev 11:19), living amidst tenantless ruins (Rev 11:13).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
In that day - That is, in the time when God would come forth to inflict punishment. Probably the day to which the prophet refers here was the time of the captivity at Babylon. A man shall cast ... - That is, "all" who have idols, or who have been trusting in them. Valuable as they may be - made of gold and silver; and much as he may "now" rely on them or worship them, yet he shall then see their vanity, and shall cast them into dark, obscure places, or holes, where are moles and bats. To the moles - פרות לחפר lachepor pērôth. Probably this should be read as a single word, and it is usually interpreted "moles." Jerome interprets it as mice or moles, from חפר châphar, "to dig." The word is formed by doubling the radical letters to give "intensity." Similar instances of words being divided in the Hebrew, which are nevertheless to be read as one, occur in Ch2 24:6; Jer 46:20; Lam 4:3; Eze 27:6. The mole is a well-known animal, with exceedingly small eyes, that burrows under ground, lives in the dark, and subsists on roots. The bat lives in o d ruins, and behind the bark of trees, and flies only in the night. They "resemble" each other, and are used here in connection, because "both" dwell amidst ruins and in obscure places; both are regarded as animals of the lowest order; both are of the same genus, and both are almost blind. The sense is, therefore, that the idols which had before been so highly venerated, would now be despised, and cast into obscure places, and amidst ruins, as worthless; see Bochart's "Hieroz.," P. i., Lib. iii., p. 1032. Ed. 1663. And to the bats - 'The East may be termed the country of bats; they hang by hundreds and thousands in caves, ruins, and under the roofs of large buildings. To enter such places, especially after rain, is "most" offensive. I have lived in rooms where it was sickening to remain, on account of the smell produced by those creatures, and whence it was almost impossible to expel them. What from the appearance of the creature, its sunken diminutive eye, its short legs (with which it cannot walk), its leather-like wings, its half-hairy, oily skin, its offensive ordure ever and anon dropping on the ground, its time for food and sport, darkness, makes it one of the most disgusting creatures to the people of the East. No wonder, then, that its name is used by the Hindoos (as by the prophet) for an epithet of contempt. When a house ceases to please the inhabitants, on account of being haunted, they say, Give it to the "bats." "Alas! alas! my wife and children are dead; my houses, my buildings, are all given to the bats." People ask, when passing a tenantless house, "Why is this habitation given to the bats?"' - "Roberts." The meaning is, that the man would throw his idols into such places as the bats occupy - he would so see their vanity, and so despise them, as to throw them into old ruins and dark places.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

In that day - That is, in the time when God would come forth to inflict punishment. Probably the day to which the prophet refers here was the time of the captivity at Babylon.

A man shall cast ... - That is, "all" who have idols, or who have been trusting in them. Valuable as they may be - made of gold and silver; and much as he may "now" rely on them or worship them, yet he shall then see their vanity, and shall cast them into dark, obscure places, or holes, where are moles and bats.

To the moles - פרות לחפר lachepor pērôth. Probably this should be read as a single word, and it is usually interpreted "moles." Jerome interprets it as mice or moles, from חפר châphar, "to dig." The word is formed by doubling the radical letters to give "intensity." Similar instances of words being divided in the Hebrew, which are nevertheless to be read as one, occur in Ch2 24:6; Jer 46:20; Lam 4:3; Eze 27:6. The mole is a well-known animal, with exceedingly small eyes, that burrows under ground, lives in the dark, and subsists on roots. The bat lives in o d ruins, and behind the bark of trees, and flies only in the night. They "resemble" each other, and are used here in connection, because "both" dwell amidst ruins and in obscure places; both are regarded as animals of the lowest order; both are of the same genus, and both are almost blind. The sense is, therefore, that the idols which had before been so highly venerated, would now be despised, and cast into obscure places, and amidst ruins, as worthless; see Bochart's "Hieroz.," P. i., Lib. iii., p. 1032. Ed. 1663.

And to the bats - 'The East may be termed the country of bats; they hang by hundreds and thousands in caves, ruins, and under the roofs of large buildings. To enter such places, especially after rain, is "most" offensive. I have lived in rooms where it was sickening to remain, on account of the smell produced by those creatures, and whence it was almost impossible to expel them. What from the appearance of the creature, its sunken diminutive eye, its short legs (with which it cannot walk), its leather-like wings, its half-hairy, oily skin, its offensive ordure ever and anon dropping on the ground, its time for food and sport, darkness, makes it one of the most disgusting creatures to the people of the East. No wonder, then, that its name is used by the Hindoos (as by the prophet) for an epithet of contempt. When a house ceases to please the inhabitants, on account of being haunted, they say, Give it to the "bats." "Alas! alas! my wife and children are dead; my houses, my buildings, are all given to the bats." People ask, when passing a tenantless house, "Why is this habitation given to the bats?"' - "Roberts." The meaning is, that the man would throw his idols into such places as the bats occupy - he would so see their vanity, and so despise them, as to throw them into old ruins and dark places.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Isa 2:20 forms the commencement to the fourth strophe: "In that day will a man cast away his idols of gold and his idols of silver, which they made for him to worship, to the moles and to the bats." The traditional text separates lachpor peroth into two words, (Note: Abulwali=d Parchon and others regard the double word as the singular of a substantive, applied to a particular bird (possibly a woodpecker), as a pecker of fruit (peroth). Kimchi would rather take lachpor as an infinitive (as in Jos 2:2), to dig pits; and compares with it the talmudic word pēr, a pit or grave. No one adopts the rendering "into mouse-holes," simply because pērah, a mouse (from an Arabic word fa'ara, to dig, or root up), was not a Hebrew word at all, but was adopted at a later period from the Arabic (hence the Hebraeo-Arabic purah, a mousetrap).) though without its being possible to discover what they are supposed to mean. The reason for the separation was simply the fact that plurilitera were at one time altogether misunderstood and regarded as Composita: for other plurilitera, written as two words, compare Isa 61:1; Hos 4:18; Jer 46:20. The prophet certainly pronounced the word lachparpâroth (Ewald, 157, c); and Chapharpârâh is apparently a mole (lit. thrower up of the soil), talpa, as it is rendered by Jerome and interpreted by Rashi. Gesenius and Knobel, however, have raised this objection, that the mole is never found in houses. But are we necessarily to assume that they would throw their idols into lumber-rooms, and not hide them in holes and crevices out of doors? The mole, the shrew-mouse, and the bat, whose name (atalleph) is regarded by Schultens as a compound word (atal-eph, night-bird), are generically related, according to both ancient and modern naturalists. Bats are to birds what moles are to the smaller beasts of prey (vid., Levysohn, Zoologie des Talmud, p. 102). The lxx combine with these two words l'hishtachavoth (to worship). Malbim and Luzzatto adopt this rendering, and understand the words to mean that they would sink down to the most absurd descriptions of animal worship. But the accentuation, which does not divide the v. at עשׂוּ־לו, as we should expect if this were the meaning, is based upon the correct interpretation. The idolaters, convinced of the worthlessness of their idols through the judicial interposition of God, and enraged at the disastrous manner in which they had been deceived, would throw away with curses the images of gold and silver which artists' hands had made according to their instructions, and hide them in the holes of bats and in mole-hills, to conceal them from the eyes of the Judge, and then take refuge there themselves after ridding themselves of this useless and damnable burden.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Isa 2:20 forms the commencement to the fourth strophe: "In that day will a man cast away his idols of gold and his idols of silver, which they made for him to worship, to the moles and to the bats." The traditional text separates lachpor peroth into two words,

(Note: Abulwali=d Parchon and others regard the double word as the singular of a substantive, applied to a particular bird (possibly a woodpecker), as a pecker of fruit (peroth). Kimchi would rather take lachpor as an infinitive (as in Jos 2:2), to dig pits; and compares with it the talmudic word pēr, a pit or grave. No one adopts the rendering "into mouse-holes," simply because pērah, a mouse (from an Arabic word fa'ara, to dig, or root up), was not a Hebrew word at all, but was adopted at a later period from the Arabic (hence the Hebraeo-Arabic purah, a mousetrap).)

though without its being possible to discover what they are supposed to mean. The reason for the separation was simply the fact that plurilitera were at one time altogether misunderstood and regarded as Composita: for other plurilitera, written as two words, compare Isa 61:1; Hos 4:18; Jer 46:20. The prophet certainly pronounced the word lachparpâroth (Ewald, 157, c); and Chapharpârâh is apparently a mole (lit. thrower up of the soil), talpa, as it is rendered by Jerome and interpreted by Rashi. Gesenius and Knobel, however, have raised this objection, that the mole is never found in houses. But are we necessarily to assume that they would throw their idols into lumber-rooms, and not hide them in holes and crevices out of doors? The mole, the shrew-mouse, and the bat, whose name (atalleph) is regarded by Schultens as a compound word (atal-eph, night-bird), are generically related, according to both ancient and modern naturalists. Bats are to birds what moles are to the smaller beasts of prey (vid., Levysohn, Zoologie des Talmud, p. 102). The lxx combine with these two words l'hishtachavoth (to worship). Malbim and Luzzatto adopt this rendering, and understand the words to mean that they would sink down to the most absurd descriptions of animal worship. But the accentuation, which does not divide the v. at עשׂוּ־לו, as we should expect if this were the meaning, is based upon the correct interpretation. The idolaters, convinced of the worthlessness of their idols through the judicial interposition of God, and enraged at the disastrous manner in which they had been deceived, would throw away with curses the images of gold and silver which artists' hands had made according to their instructions, and hide them in the holes of bats and in mole-hills, to conceal them from the eyes of the Judge, and then take refuge there themselves after ridding themselves of this useless and damnable burden.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Shall cast - Into the meanest and darkest places, in which moles and bats have their abode.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Which they made each one for himself to worship "Which they have made to worship" - The word לו lo, for himself, is omitted by two ancient MSS., and is unnecessary. It does not appear that any copy of the Septuagint has it, except MS. Pachom, and MS. 1. D. II., and they have ἑαυτοις, להם lahem, to themselves. To the moles - They shall carry their idols with them into the dark caverns, old ruins, or desolate places, to which they shall flee for refuge; and so shall give them up, and relinquish them to the filthy animals that frequent such places, and have taken possession of them as their proper habitation. Bellonias, Greaves, P. Lucas, and many other travelers, speak of bats of an enormous size, as inhabiting the Great Pyramid. See Harmer, Obs., vol. ii., 455. Three MSS. express חפרפרות chapharperoth, the moles as one word.

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¹³ And [2532] the same [1722] [1565] hour [5610] was there [1096] a great [3173] earthquake [4578], and [2532] the tenth part [1182] of the city [4172] fell [4098], and [2532] in [1722] the earthquake [4578] were slain [615] [3686] of men [444] seven [2033] thousand [5505]: and [2532] the remnant [3062] were [1096] affrighted [1719], and [2532] gave [1325] glory [1391] to the God [2316] of heaven [3772].

¹⁹ And the stork [02624], the heron [0601] after her kind [04327], and the lapwing [01744], and the bat [05847].

⁶ Of the oaks [0437] of Bashan [01316] have they made [06213] thine oars [04880]; the company [01323] of the Ashurites [0839] have made [06213] thy benches [07175] of ivory [08127], brought out of the isles [0339] of Chittim [03794].

³ Even the sea monsters [08577] draw out [02502] the breast [07699], they give suck [03243] to their young ones [01482]: the daughter [01323] of my people [05971] is become cruel [0393], like the ostriches [03283] in the wilderness [04057].

²⁰ Egypt [04714] is like a very fair [03304] heifer [05697], but destruction [07171] cometh [0935]; it cometh out [0935] of the north [06828].

⁶ And the king [04428] called [07121] for Jehoiada [03077] the chief [07218], and said [0559] unto him, Why hast thou not required [01875] of the Levites [03881] to bring in [0935] out of Judah [03063] and out of Jerusalem [03389] the collection [04864], according to the commandment of Moses [04872] the servant [05650] of the LORD [03068], and of the congregation [06951] of Israel [03478], for the tabernacle [0168] of witness [05715]?

²⁰ Egypt [04714] is like a very fair [03304] heifer [05697], but destruction [07171] cometh [0935]; it cometh out [0935] of the north [06828].

¹⁸ Their drink [05435] is sour [05493]: they have committed whoredom [02181] continually [02181]: her rulers [04043] with shame [07036] do love [0157], Give [03051] ye.

¹ The Spirit [07307] of the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] is upon me; because the LORD [03068] hath anointed [04886] me to preach good tidings [01319] unto the meek [06035]; he hath sent [07971] me to bind up [02280] the brokenhearted [07665] [03820], to proclaim [07121] liberty [01865] to the captives [07617], and the opening of the prison [06495] to them that are bound [0631];

² And it was told [0559] the king [04428] of Jericho [03405], saying [0559], Behold, there came [0935] men [0582] in hither to night [03915] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478] to search out [02658] the country [0776].

²⁰ In that day [03117] a man [0120] shall cast [07993] his idols [0457] of silver [03701], and his idols [0457] of gold [02091], which they made each one for himself [06213] to worship [07812], to the moles [02661] [06512] and to the bats [05847];