Jeremiah 10:2

Jeremiah 10:2

Idols and the True God

1 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

2 Thus says the Lord:
^a“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.

3 For the customs of the peoples are¹ futile;
For ^aone cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They ^afasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.

5 They are upright, like a palm tree,
And ^athey cannot speak;
They must be ^bcarried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For ^cthey cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.”

6 Inasmuch as there is none ^alike You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),

7 ^aWho would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For ^bamong all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.

8 But they are altogether ^adull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a¹ worthless doctrine.

9 Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And ^agold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all ^bthe work of skillful men.

10 But the Lord is the true God;
He is ^athe living God and the ^beverlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

11 Thus you shall say to them: ^a“The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth ^bshall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

12 He ^ahas made the earth by His power,
He has ^bestablished the world by His wisdom,
And ^chas stretched out the heavens at His discretion.

13 ^aWhen He utters His voice,
There is a¹ multitude of waters in the heavens:
^b“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

14 ^aEveryone is ^bdull-hearted, without knowledge;
^cEvery metalsmith is put to shame by an image;
^dFor his molded image is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.

15 They are futile, a work of errors;
In the time of their punishment they shall perish.

16 ^aThe Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things,
And ^bIsrael is the tribe of His inheritance;
^cThe Lord of hosts is His name.

The Coming Captivity of Judah

17 ^aGather up yo¹ur wares from the land,
O inhabitant of the fortress!

18 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will ^athrow out at this time
The inhabitants of the land,
And will distress them,
^bThat they may find it so.”

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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EICHORN thinks the reference here to be to some celestial portent which had appeared at that time, causing the Jews' dismay. Probably the reference is general, namely, to the Chaldeans, famed as astrologers, through contact with whom the Jews were likely to fall into the same superstition.

way—the precepts or ordinances (Leviticus 18:3; Acts 9:2).

signs of heaven—The Gentiles did not acknowledge a Great First Cause: many thought events depended on the power of the stars, which some, as PLATO, thought to be endued with spirit and reason. All heavenly phenomena, eclipses, comets, etc., are included.

one cutteth a tree, etc.—rather, "It (that which they busy themselves about: a sample of their 'customs') is a tree cut out of the forest" [MAURER].

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