Deuteronomy 4:28

28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.

Deuteronomy 4:28 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:28

And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood
and stone
Idols made by men, cut out of wood and stone; these they should be enticed into the service of, or compelled to serve; which was still more brutish and stupid than to worship the sun, moon, and stars, which were not the works of men's hand, but the glorious works of the eternal God. But since in their captivities they were not subject to idolatry, but were cured of it thereby, another sense of the words is given by some, as by Onkelos and Jonathan, who paraphrase the words of serving the people, that serve idols; but what follows confirms the first sense:

which neither see, nor hear, nor taste, nor smell;
senseless things, which have none of the senses of seeing, hearing, and smelling, nor the faculty of eating, which they need not to support life, of which they are destitute; and therefore it must be monstrous stupidity to worship such lifeless, senseless, objects; see ( Psalms 115:4-7 ) .

Deuteronomy 4:28 In-Context

26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed.
27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the Lord your God will drive you.
28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.
29 But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find [Him] when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.
30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the Lord your God in later days and obey Him.
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