Deuteronomy 4:28

28 There you will worship gods made by people, gods made of wood and stone, that 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 If you do, I ask heaven and earth to speak against you this day that you will quickly be removed from this land that you are crossing the Jordan River to take. You will not live there long after that, but you will be completely destroyed.
27 The Lord will scatter you among the other nations. Only a few of you will be left alive, and those few will be in other nations where the Lord will send you.
28 There you will worship gods made by people, gods made of wood and stone, that cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.
29 But even there you can look for the Lord your God, and you will find him if you look for him with your whole being.
30 It will be hard when all these things happen to you. But after that you will come back to the Lord your God and obey him,
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.