In verses 6-7 Yahweh primarily ridicules those who have idols made, but he also mocks idol makers and idols. He cannot be compared with those who request others to make images of their gods for them. These verses may be a response to the question in verse 5, or they may extend it. If they are a response to the question, then verse 6 is a strong negative statement in which Yahweh denies contemptuously that he can be compared with those who have useless idols made. We could use an exclamation mark to highlight this approach (see the first example below). If these verses extend the question in verse 5, then verse 6 may be rendered as another rhetorical question (see the second example below).

Those who lavish gold from the purse indicates that those who order idols to be made are wealthy people, using large amounts of gold. The Hebrew verb rendered lavish occurs only here in the Old Testament, so its precise meaning is not certain. It may mean simply “pay.” But most versions choose a verb with the sense of lavish, which means to spend abundantly, perhaps even wastefully. New International Version and New American Bible say “pour out,” while Revised English Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh use “squander.” From the purse refers to the personal wealth of the people who have the idols made. Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible render the purse as “their purses” to clarify this. A purse was probably made of leather and had a drawstring at the top to close it. For the purse, New International Version and Revised English Bible say “their bags,” which is a valid model for other languages if the word for “bag” refers to a small container that a person can carry, and that can be used to hold money.

And weigh out silver in the scales is parallel to the previous line. The wealthy provide both gold and silver to have idols made. The Hebrew word for silver often simply means “money,” but here it may refer to silver as a metal in this context of a goldsmith. For weighing on scales, see the comments on 40.12 even though a different Hebrew word is used there.

Bible en français courant slightly rearranges the contents of the first two lines to group the precious metals together, saying “Here are people who empty their purse. They weigh silver and gold.”

Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god: The wealthy hire a goldsmith to make their gold and silver into an image of a god. The Hebrew word rendered goldsmith refers to anyone who works with metal, especially gold or silver (see the comments on 40.19). The pronoun it refers to the gold and silver provided by the wealthy. A god points to an idol of a god in this context (compare 44.10, 15, 17). This whole line may be rendered “They pay a goldsmith [or, metalsmith] to make the gold and silver into an idol [or, image] of a god” or “… goldsmith to make an idol of a god out of the gold and silver.”

Then they fall down and worship: The pronoun they could refer to those who have the idol made or to both them and the idol maker. The Hebrew verbs rendered fall down and worship refer to bowing down before something or someone as an act of worship (see the comments on 44.15, where both verbs are also used together). Good News Translation provides a helpful model for this line with “then they bow down and worship it.”

This verse repeats sibilants (consonantal “s” sounds) in Hebrew, which reads hazzalim zahab mikkis wekesep baqqaneh yishqolu yiskeru tsorep weyaʿasehu ʾel yisgeru ʾap yishtachawu. This repetition produces a hissing sound, which may have been used to express contempt, as in some other languages.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Certainly not people who freely spend gold from their pockets,
who pay out money weighed on [the] scales,
who hire a metalsmith to make them an idol of a god
to which they then prostrate themselves and worship!

• With those who freely spend gold from their purses,
weighing out silver on scales,
who hire a goldsmith who makes an image of a god
that they then bow down to and worship?

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 .