Jeremiah 10:7

7 A! thou king of folks, who shall not dread thee? for why honour is thine among all wise men of heathen men, and in all the realms of them none is like thee. (O! thou King of nations, who shall not fear thee? for honour is thine among all the wise of the heathen, and in all their kingdoms there is no one like thee.)

Jeremiah 10:7 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 10:7

Who would not fear thee, O King of nations?
&c.] Not that the fear of him among the nations was general, or that he was owned by them as their King; but inasmuch as of right he was their King, so he ought to have been feared and reverenced by them; and it was an instance of great stupidity and ingratitude not to do it. The Targum renders it,

``King of all people;''

and the Syriac version, "King of all worlds"; some reference seems to be had to this passage in ( Revelation 15:3 Revelation 15:4 ) , where, instead of "King of nations", the Lord is called "King of saints"; and there refers to a time when he will be feared, that is, worshipped and served by all nations, as he ought to be: for to thee doth it appertain;
that is, fear belongs to him, it is his due; and this, with keeping the commandments of God, is the whole duty of man. The Vulgate Latin version is, "thine is the glory"; honour or praise, as the Syriac version; and so Jarchi interprets it of beauty or glory; but the Targum,

``thine is the kingdom;''

and so Kimchi; and to which agrees the Arabic version. Forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their
kingdoms, there is none like unto thee;
that is, among all the wise kings of the nations, and all their wise counsellors, there is none like unto God for wisdom, or for glory and majesty; there is none of them that has such a kingdom as he has, or that governs it as he does; and as all their power and government, so all that wisdom by which they manage their political affairs, are from him.

Jeremiah 10:7 In-Context

5 Idols be made in the likeness of a palm tree, and shall not speak; those shall be taken and be borne (about), for those may not go; therefore do not ye dread those, for they may neither do evil, neither well. (These idols be made straight and tall like a palm tree, but they cannot speak; they must be picked up and carried about, for they cannot walk; and so do not ye fear them, for they can do neither good nor evil to you/for you.)

6 Lord, none is like thee (Lord, there is no one like thee); thou art great, and thy name is great in strength.

7 A! thou king of folks, who shall not dread thee? for why honour is thine among all wise men of heathen men, and in all the realms of them none is like thee. (O! thou King of nations, who shall not fear thee? for honour is thine among all the wise of the heathen, and in all their kingdoms there is no one like thee.)

8 They shall be proved unwise and fools together; the teaching of their vanity is a tree. (They shall be proved altogether unwise and foolish; their empty and futile teaching is from a piece of wood.)

9 Silver wrapped is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz (Silver beaten into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Ophir); it is the work of a craftsman, and of the hand(s) of a worker in metal; jacinth and purple be the clothing of them; all these things be the work of workmen.