John Gill Commentary Isaiah 44:14

"He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm-tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth a fir-tree, and the rain doth nourish it." — Isaiah 44:14 (ASV)

He hews him down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak ,
&c.] To make gods of, trees both pleasant and durable, but all unfruitful: which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest ;
taking a great deal of pains in seeking out such trees as were most fit for his use, and a great deal of care in the growth of them, that they might answer his end, as well as exerting his strength in cutting of them down:

he plants an ash, and the rain nourishes it ;
a tree that soon grows up, and which he plants for the purpose to make a god of; and this being watered and nourished with rain, which God vouchsafes, though designed for an idolatrous use, grows, and is fit for what it was intended; and being so, he cuts it down, and, makes an image of it; which shows his folly and madness, that a tree of his own planting, which he has seen the growth of, and yet be so sottish as to imagine that a god may be made of it.

The word for "rain" signifies a body in the Syriac ^F7 language, as Kimchi observes, and for which he produces (Daniel 4:33) , and so Aben Ezra says it signifies in the Arabic language ^F8 ; and the sense is, "the body" of the tree "grew up", and being grown up, was cut down, and used as follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F7: "corpus", Luke iii. 22. 2Cor. x. 10. Castel. Lex. Polyglott. col. 627. So in the Chaldee language.
• F8: So, according to Schindler, signifies a body, Lex. Pentaglott. col. 347, 348.