Isaiah 46:2 - Exposition

They stoop, they bow down together ; i.e. all the Babylonian gods would suffer equally—not one would be able to protect himself. They could not deliver the burden. A distinction is here made between the god and the idol, which have hitherto been identified. The god was, in each case, unable to deliver, or save from capture, the heavy "burden" of gold, or silver, or bronze ( i.e. his own image) which was carried off on the back of the "weary beast." On the contrary, the gods themselves—the "souls" of the images, immanent in them—were carried off with the images into captivity.