Jeremiah 10:3

3 Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.

Jeremiah 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 10:3

For the customs of the people are vain
Or, "their decrees", or "statutes" ^F15, their determinations and conclusions, founded upon the observation of the stars; or, their "rites and ceremonies" ^F16 in religion, in the worship of the sun and moon, and the hosts of heaven. The Syriac version is, "the idols of the people are nothing"; and which appears by what follows: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest (the work of the hands of the
workman) with the axe;
not for building, or for burning, but to make a god of; the vanity, stupidity, and folly of which are manifest, when it is considered that the original of it is a tree that grew in the forest; the matter and substance of it the body and trunk of a tree cut down with an axe, and then hewed with the same, and planed with a plane, and formed into the image of a man, or of some creature; and now, to fall down and worship this must be vanity and madness to the last degree; see ( Isaiah 44:13-17 ) ( 45:20 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (twqx) "decreta", Targ.; "statua", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.
F16 Ritus, Vatablus; "ceremoniae", Tigurine version.

Jeremiah 10:3 In-Context

1 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O Israel!

2 This is what the LORD says: “Do not act like the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them.

3 Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.

4 They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over.

5 Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”