Jeremiah 10:4

4 Others decorate it with silver and gold. They use a hammer to nail it to the floor. They want to keep it from falling down.

Jeremiah 10:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 10:4

They deck it with silver and with gold
Cover it with plates of silver and gold, for the sake of ornament, that it may look grand, majestic, and venerable; and by this means draw the eye and attention, and so the devotion of people to it: they fasten it with nails and hammers, that it move not.
The sense is, either that the idol was fastened to some post or pillar, or in some certain place on a pedestal, that it might not fall, it not being able otherwise to support itself; or the plates of silver and gold, as Kimchi thinks, were fastened to the idol with nails and hammers, that so they might not be taken away from it; for, were it not for the nails, the god would not be able to keep his silver and golden deckings.

Jeremiah 10:4 In-Context

2 He says, "Do not follow the practices of other nations. Do not be terrified by warnings in the sky. Do not be afraid, even though the nations are terrified by them.

3 The practices of those nations are worthless. People cut a tree out of the forest. A skilled worker shapes the wood with a sharp tool.

4 Others decorate it with silver and gold. They use a hammer to nail it to the floor. They want to keep it from falling down.

5 The statues of their gods can't speak. They are like scarecrows in a field of melons. They have to be carried around because they can't walk. So do not worship them. They can't do you any harm. And they can't do you any good either."

6 Lord, no one is like you. You are great. You are mighty and powerful.