Isa 41:5 “The coastlands see and are afraid;
the whole earth trembles;
they approach and come.
41:6 They help one another;
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding,
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

Many years ago, I heard a sermon which took verse 7 as its text.  The message was all about mutual encouragement.  We have different roles within God’s kingdom (one wields a hammer, while another pound on the anvil), but our relationship with one another should be that of partnership, not rivalry or resentment.

This article takes a similar line: just as the carpenter and the goldsmith work together on a project, so God’s people support one another as they strive together toward a common purpose.  We are invited to note the attention to detail, the importance of commitment and faithfulness, and the value of manual labour and craftmanship.  This can all be seen as a metaphor for discipleship, noting that diligent effort and collaboration will ultimately result in robust faith.

Elsewhere, the following counsel is offered, based on v7 –

‘When you feel that you are almost overtaken, remember the Lord will make the rough ways in you smooth. All your sins that you struggle to forsake will be made smooth by the Lord who loves you and seeks to perfect you. Just as the blacksmith beats the heated metal to shape and form it, the Lord used those struggles you faced helped to make your rough edges smooth and pleasing to Him.’

What’s not to like about such a message of encouragement?  Surely, the scriptures frequently exhort us to help, support and co-operate with one another in the work of God’s kingdom?  Sure, they do.  But that’s not the message of this text.

This text is not about building for God’s kingdom,  It’s about making idols!

This is made explicit in a number of translations:

NIV84 – ‘He nails down the idol so it will not topple. ‘
NIV – ‘The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.’
TNIV – ‘The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.’
GNB – ‘They fasten the idol in place with nails.’

Here is a sampling of representative commentaries:

Faithlife Study Bible:

‘People work together in an ultimately futile effort, building an idol for protection.’

Wegner:

‘The artisans (i.e. the metalworker, lit. ‘engraver’; the goldsmith, lit. ‘the smelter’; the one who smooths with the hammer; and the one who strikes the anvil…encourage each other as they fashion more and finer idols in order to curry favour with their gods and secure their help to repel Cyrus. When setting up the idols, they nail them down so that the idols cannot be accidently knocked over (lit. ‘totter’; v. 7; see 40:18–20). The irony here is glaring: even though the nations are addressed by the true and living God, they turn instead to idols made with their own hands, idols that have no power to keep themselves from being toppled over, much less to deliver others.’

Goldingay (UBOT):

‘The section…closes by portraying the fearful helplessness of the nations. All they can do is encourage each other to be strong and get on with making a new god or two, preferably one that will not topple. It is bad for morale when your god falls over.’

Harman:

‘In practical terms the only response the nations can give is to try and refurbish their idols, hence the various craftsmen engaged in the making of idols will try and spur one another on. The idea is that the nations are vainly using idols to give them support, even though they themselves are the work of men’s hands.’

Cornerstone Bible Commentary:

‘The international threat posed by Cyrus’ conquests called for acceleration of idol manufacturing. In seemingly total confusion, they “encourage one another” (41:6) in making idols. The “carver encourages the goldsmith” and the “molder helps at the anvil” (41:7). They carefully “join the parts together” and fix it in its place “so it won’t fall over” (41:7). But the mutual support described here is in vain, because instead of turning to the true God, these idolatrous people became more and more involved in futile idolatry. Despite the expertise of the craftsmen, the idols they constructed needed support, lest they topple like Dagon (1 Sam 5:4) or fall on their faces!’

So also Smith (NAC), Motyer, Watts (WBC), McKenzie (AYB).

Among the older commentators:

Calvin:

‘He describes the rebellion and madness of idolaters, by which they excite each other to oppose God.’

Matthew Henry:

‘One tradesman encourages another to come into a confederacy for the keeping up of the noble craft of god-making.’

So also: Poole, Barnes, Keil & Delitzsch.

In short, this passage mocks the futile co-operation of idol-makers.  I have not found a single commentator who thinks otherwise.

Nevertheless, as Matthew Henry pointed out, there is a legitimate application to godly encouragement, once ungodly encouragement has been shown for what it is:

‘Do sinners thus animate and quicken one another in the ways of sin? And shall not the servants of the living God both stir up one another to, and strengthen one another in, his service?’