Isaiah 46

Isaiah 46 is the forty-sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is a part of the Nevi'im. Isaiah 40–55 is known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and dates from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon.

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 13 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets, Aleppo Codex, Codex Leningradensis.
Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls :

1QIsa^a: complete
1QIsa^b: extant: verses 3‑13
4QIsa^b : extant: verses 1-3
4QIsa^d : extant: verses 10‑13

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Marchalianus.

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex. Isaiah 46 is a part of the Consolations . : open parashah; : closed parashah.

Structure

The Jerusalem Bible organises this chapter as follows:

Isaiah 46:1-4 = The fall of Bel
Isaiah 46:5-7 = Yahweh is without equal
Isaiah 46:8-13 = Yahweh is lord of the future

There are no subdivisions in the New King James Version, where the chapter is sub-titled "Dead Idols and the Living God", or the New International Version, where the chapter is sub-titled "Gods of Babylon".

Verse 1

Bel was the sky-god of the Babylonians and the Assyrians. Nebo was the Babylonian god of scribes and wisdom.

Verse 4

Verse 4 is the inspiration for the Christian hymn: "Safe In Jehovah’s Keeping".

Jewish

Christian