Jeremiah 10:12

12 He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Jeremiah 10:12 In-Context

10 But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.

11 Thus shall you say to them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.

12 He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:

13 when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.

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