Jeremiah 10:12

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

Jeremiah 10:12 in Other Translations

KJV
12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
ESV
12 It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
NLT
12 But the LORD made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens.
MSG
12 But it is God whose power made the earth, whose wisdom gave shape to the world, who crafted the cosmos.
CSB
12 He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and spread out the heavens by His understanding.

Jeremiah 10:12 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 10:12

He hath made the earth by his power
The Targum considers these words as a continuation of the answer of the Jews to the Chaldeans, paraphrasing them thus,

``and so shall ye say unto them, `we worship him who hath made the earth by his power':''
who stands opposed to the gods that made not the heavens and the earth, that had no title to deity, nor right to worship; but the true God has both; and his making the earth out of nothing, and hanging it upon nothing, and preserving it firm and stable, are proofs of his almighty power, and so of his deity; and consequently that he ought to be worshipped, and he only. He hath established the world by his wisdom;
upon the rivers and floods; or he hath poised it in the air; or he hath disposed it in an orderly, regular, and beautiful manner, as the word F21 used signifies; by making it terraqueous, partly land, and partly water; by opening in it fountains and rivers; by diversifying it with hills and vales, with wood and arable land; all which show the wisdom as well as the power of God. And hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion;
as a canopy over the earth, as a tent to dwell in; and which is beautifully bespangled with the luminaries in it; hence it has the name of expanse, or the firmament of heaven.
FOOTNOTES:

F21 (Nykm) "aptavit", Cocceius; "preparans", Schmidt; a (Nwk) "aptavit, disposuit", Gussetius.

Jeremiah 10:12 In-Context

10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’ ”
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.

Cross References 4

  • 1. S 1 Samuel 2:8
  • 2. S ver 16
  • 3. S Genesis 1:31
  • 4. S Genesis 1:1,8; Job 9:8; Isaiah 40:22
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