Isaiah 44:14-17

14-17. Heweth… cedars… cypress… oak Back of manufacture, the prophet now goes for the origin of idols. He seeks the trees from which they are made trees which require rains long before they can be made into idols. He seeks the cedar, oak, holm oak. (Why seek trees of Palestine if this prophet is of Babylon at the time of Cyrus, and is not Isaiah one hundred and fifty years before?) The fig tree is used, too, but half of it its chips is taken for fuel to cook and warm by. Why such a material for the making of a god? Delitzsch quotes as follows, in loco: “Diagoras of Melos, a pupil of Democritus, once threw a wooden figure of Hercules into the fire, and said jocularly, “Hercules, come now, perform thy thirteenth labour, and help me cook my turnips.” With as keen a point does Isaiah virtually ask: “Is there a god in your cedar, holm, or fig tree logs or billets?”