He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
He feedeth on ashes - figurative, because the idolater delights in what is vain (Proverbs 15:14; Hosea 12:1, "Ephraim feedeth on wind"). There is an allusion, perhaps, also, to the god being made of a tree, the half of which was reduced to ashes by fire (Isaiah 44:15-17); the idol, it is implied, was no better, and could, and ought, to have been reduced to ashes like the other half.
A deceived heart hath turned him aside - the heart and will first go astray, then the intellect and life (Romans 1:28; Ephesians 4:18).
(Is there) not a lie in my right hand? - Is not my handiwork (the idol) a self-deceit?