Jeremiah 10:8
6 There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
7 Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz— the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
- KJV
- But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
- WEB
- But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood.
- ASV
- But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock.
- DARBY
- But they are one and all senseless and foolish; the teaching of vanities is a stock.
- BLB
- But they are altogether senseless and foolish, the teaching of of vanities, it [is] of wood!
- ÅB
- Men alle sammen er de ufornuftige, de er dårer. En tom lære! Tre er det[^1],
- OTB
- De er alle sammen ufornuftige og dåraktige; læren fra avgudene er bare tre.
- B1930
- Men alle sammen er de ufornuftige, de er dårer. En tom lære! Tre er det, / < avgudsbilledet.>
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Jeremiah 10:14
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
Read in contextZechariah 10:2
For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
Read in contextPsalms 135:18
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Read in contextPsalms 115:8
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Read in contextJeremiah 51:17–18
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
Read in contextIsaiah 41:29
See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
Read in contextRomans 1:21–22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
Read in contextHabakkuk 2:18
What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it— or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
Read in context