Jeremiah 16:20

20 Can man make gods for himself? Yet they are 1not gods!

Jeremiah 16:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 16:20

Shall a man make gods unto himself
Can a man make his own gods? a poor, weak, mortal man? can he make gods of gold, silver, brass, wood, or stone? can he put deity into them? and when he has made images of these, can he be so stupid as to account them gods, and worship them? can he be so sottish, and void of understanding, as to imagine that anything that is made by himself or any other, can be God? and they are no gods;
that are made by men; he only is the true God, that is the Maker and Creator of all things; or they are no gods themselves that pretend to make them, and therefore how should they make gods? can they give that which they have not? or impart deity to others which they have not themselves? These words are a continuation of the speech of the Gentiles, and contain their reasonings, exposing the folly of their idolatrous ancestors: though some take them to be the words of God, or of the prophet, inveighing against the Jews for their stupidity in worshipping idols; when the Gentiles were convinced of the folly and vanity of such practices, and acknowledged it.

Jeremiah 16:20 In-Context

18 "I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations."
19 O LORD , my strength and my stronghold, And my refuge in the day of distress, To You the nations will come From the ends of the earth and say, "Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, Futility and things of no profit."
20 Can man make gods for himself? Yet they are not gods!
21 "Therefore behold, I am going to make them know - This time I will make them know My power and My might; And they shall know that My name is the LORD ."

Cross References 1

  • 1. Psalms 115:4-8; Isaiah 37:19; Jeremiah 2:11; Jeremiah 5:7; Hosea 8:4-6; Galatians 4:8
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