This verse describes what will happen to those who worship and make idols. They will be terrified and disgraced.

Behold draws attention to the following statement, but many versions do not include it. New Revised Standard Version uses “Look,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “Watch how.”

All his fellows shall be put to shame: All his fellows refers to all the worshipers of the idol. New Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible say “all its devotees,” while New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “all its adherents.” Good News Translation translates “Everyone who worships it.” For be put to shame, see Isa 44.9.

And the craftsmen are but men does not mean that women make no idols, but that those who make them are merely human beings. Good News Translation makes this emphatic by saying “The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more.” The Hebrew word translated craftsmen is a general term for people who work with their hands to fashion objects (see the comments on 41.7). It can refer to metalworkers (verse 12), carpenters (verse 13), or stonemasons.

Let them all assemble, let them stand forth: In these two parallel clauses the prophet calls those who make idols to come together. This call implies a courtroom setting in which they come before God. Good News Translation makes this explicit with “Let them come and stand trial.” Revised English Bible has “Let them all assemble and confront me [that is, God].”

They shall be terrified because they will be in the presence of the one and only God. The Hebrew verb here is the same one rendered “Fear not” in verse 8, so there is a contrast between the intense fear of the idol makers and the confidence of God’s people before him.

They shall be put to shame together: This clause repeats the verb at the beginning of the verse, emphasizing the fate of those who make and worship images.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• See, all those who are devotees of idols will be put to shame. Those who make the idols are only human, so let them gather around God; they all will be in terror and will look like fools [or, be deeply ashamed].

• Look, all who worship images will be put to shame. The men who fashion the images are merely human beings, so let them come and stand before God; they all will be terrified and will be put to shame.

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 .