Yahweh now responds to the arrogant claims of the Assyrian king, quoted in verses 13-14. Good News Translation makes it explicit that Yahweh is speaking. In verse 5 God referred to Assyria as his agent—his “rod” and “staff.” But we have seen how Assyria considers itself to be acting purely in its own strength and for its own interests. The LORD now corrects this false vision. The point of the two rhetorical questions in verse 15a and the two ironic statements in verse 15b is to state the obvious fact that tools are simply tools; they cannot claim superiority over the person who uses them. (In 45.9 there is the same idea: clay cannot criticize the potter for what he is making with it.)

Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it is Yahweh’s first question. Like the “rod” in verse 5, the axe is a figure for Assyria. The axe is spoken of as though it were a person. Such personification may be difficult to convey in some languages, but translators should try to keep it since it forms an integral part of the text. The image may be expanded by saying “Can an axe talk and make boasts against the person who uses it?” It is important to express the irony that lies within the question.

Vaunt itself means to glorify oneself or to think too highly of oneself; such a person is puffed up with pride and arrogance. Him who hews with it may be rendered “the person who uses the axe to cut wood.”

If the rhetorical question form and the implied irony does not come naturally in the receptor language, then a strong statement may be used; for example, “There is no way an axe can claim to be more important than the person who uses it!”

Or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?: This second question is parallel to the first one. It means that it is foolish for the saw to think of itself as more important than the one who uses it. Wields may be rendered “uses,” but its strict sense is “waves about” or “brandishes.”

In languages where specific words for axe and saw do not exist, both clauses in verse 15a may be combined into one. A single tool may be mentioned, one that is well-known and similar in its use to the axe and the saw, for example, a “cutlass” or “machete.”

As if a rod should wield him who lifts it: Here the LORD mocks Assyria. Just as a piece of wood cannot possibly control the person who carries it, so Assyria cannot control the LORD. The Hebrew is literally “As the rod wields its lifter.” It is a hypothetical statement that stresses something impossible. It may be rendered “How stupid to think that a club can control the person who uses it!” or “There’s no way that…!” For rod see the comments on Isa 10.5.

Or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood is a second example of an impossible event. Something made of wood cannot lift someone not made of wood. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “As though the staff lifted the man!” For staff see the comments on Isa 10.5.

Good News Translation collapses the last two lines into one, with its rather prosaic rendering: “A club doesn’t lift up a person; a person lifts up a club.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Can an axe claim to be more powerful than the one who uses it? Can a saw think of itself as more important than the one doing the sawing? There’s no way a club can shake the one who carries it, nor can a stick lift a man!

• It’s absurd for an axe to consider itself more powerful than the one cutting with it. It’s foolish for a saw to consider itself more important than the one doing the sawing. It’s ridiculous to think a club can shake the one who carries it or that a stick can lift a man!

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .