Jeremiah 10:5-15

5 They are no different than a scarecrow in a cucumber patch: they can't speak; they must be carried because they can't walk. Don't be afraid of them, because they can't do harm or good.
6 LORD, no one is like you! You are great, and great is your mighty name.
7 Who wouldn't fear you, king of the nations? That is your due; among all the wise of the nations and in all their countries, there is no one like you!
8 But they are both foolish and silly; they offer nothing because they are mere wood.
9 Covered with silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, they are the work of a craftsman and the hands of a goldsmith. Clothed in blue and purple, all of them nothing more than the work of artisans.
10 But the LORD is the true God! He's the living God and the everlasting king! When he's angry, the earth quakes; the nations can't endure his rage.
11 Tell them this: The gods who didn't make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.
12 But God made the earth by his might; he shaped the world by his wisdom, crafted the skies by his knowledge.
13 At the sound of his voice, the heavenly waters roar. He raises the clouds from the ends of the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain, the wind from his treasuries.
14 Everyone is too foolish to understand; every goldsmith is dishonored by his idols, for their images are shams; they aren't alive.
15 They are a delusion, a charade; at the appointed time they will vanish!

Jeremiah 10:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 10

This chapter shows that there is no comparison to be made between God and the idols of the Gentiles; represents the destruction of the Jews as near at hand; and is closed with some petitions of the prophet. It begins by way of preface with an exhortation to hear the word of the Lord, and a dehortation not to learn the way of the Heathens, or be dismayed at their signs, since their customs were in vain, Jer 10:1-3 which lead on to expose their idols, and set forth the greatness and glory of God. Their idols are described by the matter and makers of them, Jer 10:3,4,9 and from their impotence to speak, to stand, to move, or do either good or evil, Jer 10:4,5, but, on the other hand, God is described by the greatness of his name and power, and by the reverence that belongs unto him; in comparison of whom all the wise men of the nations are brutish, foolish, and vain, Jer 10:6-8, by the epithets of true, living, and everlasting, and by the terribleness of his wrath, Jer 10:10, by his power and wisdom, in making the heavens and the earth, in causing thunder and lightning, wind and rain, when the gods that have no share in these shall utterly perish, Jer 10:11-13 their makers being brutish, and brought to shame; and they falsehood and breathless vanity, the work of errors, and so shall come to ruin, Jer 10:14,15, but he, who is Jacob's portion, and whose inheritance Israel is, is not like them; being the former of all things, and his name the Lord of hosts, Jer 10:16 and next follows a prophecy of the destruction of the Jews; wherefore they are bid to gather up their wares, since in a very little time, and at once, the Lord would fling them out of the land, and bring them into distress, Jer 10:17,18, upon which the prophet expresses his sympathy with his people in trouble, and the part of grief he took and bore with them, Jer 10:19, the particulars of his distress, through the desolation of the land, and the captivity of the people, with the cause and authors of it, by whose means these things were brought upon them, are mentioned, Jer 10:20,21, and the Chaldean army, the instruments of their ruin, are represented as just at hand, Jer 10:22, when the prophet, directing himself to God, acknowledges the impotence of man in general to help and guide himself, deprecates correction in anger to himself in particular, and prays that the wrath of God might be poured down upon the Heathens, by whom his people were devoured, consumed, and made desolate, Jer 10:23-25.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. 10:11 is written in Aramaic.
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