Jeremiah 10:14

14 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

Jeremiah 10:14 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 10:14

Every man is brutish in his knowledge
Or science of making an idol, whether it be of wood, or of gold, or silver, or brass; he is no better than a brute, if he thinks, when he has made it, he has made a god: or, "because of knowledge" ^F23; for want of it; being without the knowledge of God and divine things, he is like the beasts that perish, ( Psalms 49:20 ) : every founder is confounded by the graven image;
or put to shame on account of it; since, after all his art, and care, and trouble, in melting and refining, and casting it into a form, it is no more than a piece of gold, or silver, or brass, and has no deity, nor anything like it, in it: for his molten image is falsehood;
it is a lie, when it is said to be a god; and it deceives those who worship it, and place any confidence in it. Kimchi renders it, "his covering" ^F24. The covering of the idol with gold and silver, with blue and purple, as in ( Jeremiah 10:4 Jeremiah 10:9 ) , is all a piece of deceit, to impose upon the people, and lead them into idolatry: and there is no breath in them;
they are mere stocks and stones, lifeless and inanimate creatures; they have neither life themselves, nor can they give it to others.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (tedm) "propter scientiam", Pagninus, Montanus; "a scientia", Calvin, Grotius, Schmidt.
F24 (wkon) "tectio, [sive] obductio ejus", Vatablus.

Jeremiah 10:14 In-Context

12 The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

13 When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

14 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

15 They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

16 The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance— the LORD of Hosts is His name.