Discovery BoxIsaiah 44:14-15 
Context44:14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress 1 or an oak.
He gets 2 trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar 3 and the rain makes it grow.
44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; 4
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it. 5
1 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
2 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
3 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (’oren) to אֶרֶז (’erez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”
4 tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”
5 tn Or perhaps, “them.”
