They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.

ISAIAH 42:17KJV
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Isaiah 42:17 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 42:17 mean?

Isaiah 42:17 says that those who trust in idols—specifically carved and cast images—will be forced to turn back in defeat and will experience deep shame. The verse highlights the futility and embarrassment that comes from relying on man-made objects as gods instead of the true God.

In this part of Isaiah, God is speaking through the prophet to warn people who have turned to idol worship. The context is a message to Israel, but it also addresses anyone who puts their trust in physical images rather than in God. The verse uses strong language to show that trusting in idols leads not just to disappointment, but to public shame and reversal of fortune.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 42:17

  • The word "turned" (הָסֹג / hasog) means to retreat or turn back, often used for someone forced to withdraw in defeat. This shows that idol worshipers will not just fail, but will be made to go backward.
  • "Greatly" (בּוֹשֶׁת / boshet) is a word for intense shame or disgrace, not just mild embarrassment. The verse emphasizes the depth of the shame faced by those who trust in idols.
  • "Trust" (בָּטַח / batach) means to put confidence or security in something. Here, it highlights that the problem is not just making idols, but relying on them for help or salvation.
  • "Images" appears twice with different words: "graven images" (פֶּסֶל / pesel) refers to carved idols, while "molten images" (מַסֵּכָה / masekah) refers to cast metal idols. The verse covers all forms of idol-making, showing that any kind of image worship is included in this warning.

Why Isaiah 42:17 matters

  • Isaiah 42:17 clarifies that the problem is not just making images, but putting trust in them as if they have power or divinity.
  • The verse connects to the wider chapter, which contrasts the living God with lifeless idols and shows God's unique ability to save and guide.
  • This verse helps explain why idol worship is so strongly condemned in the Bible: it leads people away from truth and results in shame, not honor.

Where else these words appear

“turned” Hebrew H5472 · used in 14 verses

  • Psalms 35:4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
  • Psalms 70:2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.
  • Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

“images” Hebrew H4541 · used in 28 verses

  • Exodus 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
  • Judges 17:4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.
  • Nehemiah 9:18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

“greatly” Hebrew H1322 · used in 29 verses

  • 1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?
  • Psalms 109:29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
  • Jeremiah 7:19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

“images” Hebrew H6459 · used in 31 verses

  • Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
  • Judges 18:17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
  • Isaiah 44:9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.