Deuteronomy 4:28

28 And ye shall there serve other gods, the works of the hands of men, wood and stones, which cannot see, nor can they hear, nor eat, nor 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 I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that ye shall surely perish from off the land, into which ye go across Jordan to inherit it there; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly cut off.
27 And the Lord shall scatter you among all nations, and ye shall be left few in number among all the nations, among which the Lord shall bring you.
28 And ye shall there serve other gods, the works of the hands of men, wood and stones, which cannot see, nor can they hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 And there ye shall seek the Lord your God, and ye shall find him whenever ye shall seek him with all your heart, and with all your soul in your affliction.
30 And all these things shall come upon thee in the last days, and thou shalt turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice.

Footnotes 1

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.