Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 40:20

"He that is too impoverished for [such] an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be moved." — Isaiah 40:20 (ASV)

He who is so impoverished - So poor.

It is generally supposed that the word used here is to be understood in this way, though interpreters have not entirely agreed on its meaning. The Septuagint translates the phrase as, ‘The carpenter chooses a sound piece of wood.’ The Chaldee states, ‘He cuts down an ash, a tree which will not rot.’ The Vulgate says, ‘Perhaps he chooses a tree which is incorruptible.’ Jarchi translates it as, ‘He who is accustomed to examine, and to judge between the wood which is durable, and other wood.’

But the meaning of the word (from סכן sâkan—meaning “to dwell, to be familiar with anyone”), as given by our translators, is probably the correct one: that of being too poor to make a costly offering.

Gesenius supposes this notion of poverty is derived from the idea of being seated, and then of sinking down from weariness or weakness, and therefore from poverty or want.

That he has no oblation - No offering; no sacrifice; no rich gift. He is too poor to make such an offering to his god as would be implied in an idol of brass or other metal, richly overlaid with plates of gold, and decorated with silver chains.

In Isaiah 40:19, the purpose seems to have been to describe the richer and more costly idols that were made; here, it is to describe those made by the poor who were unable to offer idols made of brass and gold.

The word ‘oblation,’ therefore (that is, offering), in this place, does not mean an offering made to the true God, but an offering made to an idol, which an image was considered to be. He could not afford a rich offering and was forced to make one of wood.

Chooses a tree that will not rot - Wood that will be durable and permanent. Perhaps the idea is that, since he could not afford one of metal, he would choose the most valuable material he could: a piece of durable wood, which would thus show his regard for the god he worshipped.

Alternatively, the meaning may be that he intended it should not be moved. This would express a fixed and settled determination to adhere to idol worship. Since he had no intention of changing his religion, the permanence and durability of the wood would be regarded as a somewhat more acceptable expression of his worship.

A cunning workman - Hebrew, ‘A wise craftsman;’ a man skilled in the art of carving and making images.

A graven image - An image engraved or cut from wood, as distinct from one that is molten or made from metals.

That shall not be moved - That it shall stand for a long time, as an expression of his devotion to the service of the idol. The wood commonly used for this purpose, being most durable, as we learn from Isaiah 44:14, was the cedar, the cypress, or the oak (see the note in that place). The phrase ‘shall not be moved’ does not refer so much to its being fixed in one place as to its durability and permanence.