Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake - arise to my help.
To the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! - rather, an exclamation of the prophet, implying an ironical question, to which a negative answer must be given. What! 'It teach?' Certainly not (Maurer). Or, 'It (the idol itself) shall
(i:e., ought to) teach you that at is deaf, and therefore no god' (Calvin). (Compare "they are their own witnesses," Isaiah 44:9)
Behold - the Hebrew is nominative. 'There it is' (Henderson).
It is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it - outside it has some splendour, within none.