Jeremiah 10:14

14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.

Jeremiah 10:14 in Other Translations

14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

14 Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them.

14 The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power.

14 Stick-god worshipers looking mighty foolish, god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods! Their gods are frauds - dead sticks,

14 Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

14 Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Metalsmiths are put to shame by their idols. Their statues are false [gods]. They can't breathe.

14 Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by [his] carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them.

14 No one has any sense. No one knows anything at all. Everyone who works with gold is put to shame by his wooden gods. The metal gods he worships are fakes. They can't even breathe.

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.

---

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 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.

15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.

16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance— the LORD Almighty is his name.

Cross References

• 1. S Psalms 97:7; S Isaiah 1:29
• 2. S Isaiah 44:20