44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –
over that half he cooks 1 meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
47:14 Look, they are like straw,
which the fire burns up;
they cannot rescue themselves
from the heat 2 of the flames.
There are no coals to warm them,
no firelight to enjoy. 3
1 tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”
2 tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.
3 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.