In this verse the prophet describes an idol made out of wood.

He who is impoverished chooses for an offering wood that will not rot: The Hebrew participle rendered He who is impoverished refers to someone who is poor. This person can only afford wood for his idol, in contrast to the wealthy mentioned in the previous verse who use gold and silver (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). However, the word rendered He who is impoverished occurs only here, so its meaning is uncertain. New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and New American Bible translate it “mulberry wood” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). For these two lines New Revised Standard Version has “As a gift one chooses mulberry wood—wood that will not rot.” The mulberry tree has hard wood that does not rot easily. For languages that do not have “mulberry wood,” it may be rendered “a fine piece of [hard] wood.” Whichever interpretation translators follow here, they should add a footnote to indicate that the meaning of the Hebrew is unclear, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

The Hebrew word rendered offering is literally “that which is lifted up.” It may be rendered “gift” (New Revised Standard Version) in this context. It is unclear what the offering is in this context. The wooden idol may be offered to the god it represents, or the wood may be offered to the artisan to make an idol out of it. Good News Translation and Revised English Bible omit the idea of offering, but translators should keep it. Wood that will not rot refers to hard wood that will last. It requires a lot of effort to carve.

He seeks out a skilful craftsman: Since the person who chooses the wood is unable to make the idol himself, he looks for someone who is skilled in carving wood. The Hebrew word for craftsman is the same one rendered “workman” in the previous verse (see the comments there). The Hebrew adjective translated skilful is often rendered “wise” (see 19.11-12), but “skillful” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “skilled” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version) fits better in this context. Wisdom has very practical applications.

To set up an image that will not move: The first task of the craftsman is probably to make the statue, and then to fix it firmly in place. Good News Translation makes this clear with “to make an image that won’t fall down.” Bible en français courant is similar by rendering the last two lines as “Then he looks for a good craftsman, capable of making an idol that will hold firm.” Image renders the same Hebrew word translated “idol” in the previous verse (see the comments there). Since an idol cannot move by itself, this line must mean the craftsman puts it in place firmly, so that it doesn’t topple (see 1 Sam 5.3-4 for an example of an idol that toppled). New Revised Standard Version says “to set up an image that will not topple” (similarly New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

Revised English Bible and New American Bible move 41.6-7 after this verse. They believe that the two verses are out of place in chapter 41 but link closely with the satire on idols here. Some scholars (for example, Blenkinsopp) believe there are good exegetical reasons for this reordering. However, in the absence of any textual evidence to support it, we advise translators to retain the Masoretic Text order.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• For his offering a poor person chooses wood that will not rot,
then he finds a skilled craftsman to make an image with it
and to put it [firmly] in place so that it cannot fall over.

• He chooses for an offering mulberry wood that will not rot,
then he seeks out a skilled craftsman to carve the image
and to set it up so that it will not be unsteady.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .