King James Version
Jeremiah 10
25 verses with commentary
Idols and the True God
Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse opens a new oracle: 'Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel.' The Hebrew shim'u (שִׁמְעוּ, hear) with eth-haddavar (אֶת־הַדָּבָר, the word) emphasizes attentive obedience to divine revelation. This verse introduces an extended polemic against idolatry, contrasting the true God with worthless idols. The address to 'house of Israel' encompasses the entire cov...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
X.
(1) **House of Israel.**—This forms the link that connects what follows with what precedes. The *“*house of Israel” had been told that it was “uncircumcised in heart,” on a level with the heathen; now the special sin of the heathen, which it was disposed to follow, is set forth in words of scorn and indignation.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. Be of good courage--**Be not alarmed because of Cyrus, but make new images to secure the favor of the gods against him.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse warns against adopting pagan practices: 'Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen.' The Hebrew derek haggoyim (דֶּרֶךְ הַגּוֹיִם) means the path, conduct, or religious customs of the nations. 'And be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.' 'Signs of heaven' (othoth hashamayim, אֹתוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם) refers to celestial phenomena—eclipses, co...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven.**—The special reference is to the “astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators” of the Chaldæans (Isaiah 47:13), finding portents either in the conjuncture of planets and constellations, or in eclipses, comets, and other like phenomena. In singular contrast with the abject attitude of mind thus produced, the prophet shows that what has bee...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7. One workman encourages the other to be quick in finishing the idol, so as to avert the impending danger.
**nails--**to keep it steady in its place. Wisdom 13:15, 16, gives a similar picture of the folly of idolatry.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. customs: Heb. statutes, or, ordinances are vanity
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse exposes idol manufacture: 'For the customs of the people are vain.' The Hebrew chuqqoth (חֻקּוֹת, statutes, customs) with hevel (הֶבֶל, vanity, breath, nothing) declares religious practices worthless. 'For one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.' The idol begins as a tree—created thing—cut down by human labor (charash, חָרָשׁ, craftsman)...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **The customs of the people.**—Better, *ordinances of the peoples. *The prophet is speaking, not of common customs, but of religious institutions, and of these as belonging, not to “the people,” *i.e., *Israel, but to the nations round them. The verses that follow are so closely parallel to Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 44:9-17; Isaiah 46:5-7 (where see Notes), that the natural conclusion is that one wr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8. Contrast between the idolatrous nations whom God will destroy by Cyrus, and Israel whom God will deliver by the same man for their forefathers' sake.
**servant--**so termed as being chosen by God to worship Him themselves, and to lead other peoples to do the same (Is 45:4).
**Jacob ... chosen--**(Psa 135:4).
**my friend--**literally, "loving me."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse continues describing idol manufacture: 'They deck it with silver and with gold.' The Hebrew kesheph (כֶּסֶף, silver) and zahav (זָהָב, gold) indicate precious metal overlay making the idol impressive. 'They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.' The Hebrew masmerim (מַסְמְרִים, nails) and maqqaboth (מַקָּבוֹת, hammers) reveal the idol's instability—it must be fastened...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
9. Abraham, the father of the Jews, taken from the remote Ur of the Chaldees. Others take it of Israel, called out of Egypt (De 4:37; Ho 11:1).
**from the chief men--**literally, "the elbows"; so the joints; hence the root which joins the tree to the earth; figuratively, those of ancient and noble stock. But the parallel clause "ends of the earth" favors Gesenius, who translates, "the extremitie...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse mocks idols' helplessness: 'They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not.' The Hebrew tomer miqshah (תֹּמֶר מִקְשָׁה) may mean 'scarecrow in a cucumber field' (NIV) or 'palm tree' (KJV)—rigid, immobile, decorative but lifeless. 'They must needs be borne, because they cannot go.' Idols require carrying (nasa, נָשָׂא); they cannot walk (tsaad, צָעַד). 'Be not afraid of them; for they ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Upright as the palm tree.**—Better, perhaps, *A pillar in a garden of gourds are they. *The Hebrew word translated “upright” has two very different, though not entirely unconnected, meanings—(1) “twisted, rounded, carved,” and in this sense it is translated commonly as “beaten work” (Exodus 25:18; Exodus 25:31; Exodus 25:36), and is here applied (if we accept this meaning) to the twisted pal...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. be not dismayed--**literally, anxiously to look at one another in dismay.
**right hand of my righteousness--**that is, My right hand prepared in accordance with My righteousness (faithfulness to My promises) to uphold thee.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse transitions to praising the true God: 'Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD.' The Hebrew ein kamokha (אֵין כָּמוֹךָ) asserts YHWH's absolute uniqueness—incomparable, unparalleled. 'Thou art great, and thy name is great in might.' gadol (גָּדוֹל, great) applies to both God's being and His name (character, reputation). 'In might' (gebhurah, גְּבוּרָה) indicates power, strengt...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Forasmuch as.**—A somewhat flat addition to the Hebrew text, which opens with a vigorous abruptness, *None is there like unto thee** . . .***
**Great in might.**—The latter is an almost technical word (as in Isaiah 33:13; Psalm 21:13; Psalm 145:11) for the Divine Omnipotence. (Compare “the Mighty God” of Isaiah 9:6.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. ashamed--**put to the shame of defeat (compare Is 54:17; Ro 9:33).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. to: or, it liketh thee
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse declares universal divine sovereignty: 'Who would not fear thee, O King of nations?' The rhetorical question expects universal answer: everyone should fear this King. 'For to thee doth it appertain.' The Hebrew ya'atha (יָאֲתָה) means 'it is fitting, appropriate, proper'—fear is YHWH's rightful due. 'Forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **King of nations.**—Emphatically, “King of *the heathen” *expressing the universal sovereignty of Jehovah in contrast with the thought that He was the God of the Jews only. (Compare Romans 3:29.)
**To thee doth it appertain.**—Better, *for it is thine, i.e., *the kingdom over the heathen implied in the title just given.
**The wise men.**—The word “men” is better omitted. Jehovah is not compar...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. seek ... and ... not find--**said of one so utterly put out of the way that not a trace of him can be found (Psa 37:36).
**thing of naught--**shall utterly perish.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. altogether: Heb. in one, or, at once
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse restates idol futility: 'But they are altogether brutish and foolish.' The Hebrew ba'ar (בָּעַר, brutish, stupid, like cattle) and kasal (כָּסַל, foolish) apply to both idols and their worshippers. 'The stock is a doctrine of vanities.' 'Stock' (ets, עֵץ) is simply 'wood'—the material from which idols are made. A 'doctrine of vanities' (musar havalim, מוּסַר הֲבָלִים) indicates 'instruc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Altogether.**—Literally, *in one, *probably in the sense *in one word, in one fact, sc., *that which follows in the next clause.
**The stock is a doctrine of vanities.**—Better, inverting the subject and predicate, *the teaching of vanities *(*i.e., *of idols) *is a word, *or *is a log. *That is all it comes to; that one word is its condemnation.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13. (De 33:26, 29).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse describes idol materials: 'Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz.' Tarshish, likely in Spain, was renowned for silver trade; Uphaz may be a variant of Ophir, famous for gold. The finest materials from distant sources—yet still just metal. 'The work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder.' charash (חָרָשׁ, craftsman) and tsaraph (צָרָף, metalwor...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Tarshish.**—As elsewhere in the Old Testament, Spain, the Tartessus of the Greeks (Genesis 10:4; Jonah 1:3; Ezekiel 27:12), from whence Palestine, through the Phoenicians, was chiefly supplied with silver, tin, and other metals.
**Uphaz.**—Possibly an error of transcription, or dialectical variation, for Ophir, giving the meaning “gold-coast.” The word is found only here and in Daniel 10:5. ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. worm--**in a state of contempt and affliction, whom all loathe and tread on, the very expression which Messiah, on the cross, applies to Himself (Psa 22:6), so completely are the Lord and His people identified and assimilated. God's people are as 'worms' in humble thoughts of themselves, and in their enemies' haughty thoughts of them; worms, but not vipers, or of the serpent's seed." [Henry]...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. true: Heb. God of truth everlasting: Heb. king of eternity
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse declares YHWH's reality: 'But the LORD is the true God.' The Hebrew YHWH Elohim emeth (יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֱמֶת)—literally 'YHWH God truth' or 'YHWH is the true God'—contrasts sharply with idol vanity. 'He is the living God, and an everlasting king.' Two titles affirm His nature: 'living God' (Elohim chayyim, אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים) versus dead idols, and 'everlasting king' (melek olam, מֶלֶךְ ע...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **The Lord is the true God.**—Literally, *Jehovah is the God that is Truth. *The thought expressed is that for which St. John, as indeed the LXX. does here, uses the word *alēthinos *(John 17:3; 1John 5:20), Truth in its highest and most perfect form. So “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
**An everlasting king.**—Here, as in other like passages, the English Version is not wr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
15. God will make Israel to destroy their enemies as the Eastern corn-drag (Is 28:27, 28) bruises out the grain with its teeth, and gives the chaff to the winds to scatter.
**teeth--**serrated, so as to cut up the straw for fodder and separate the grain from the chaff.
**mountains ... hills--**kingdoms more or less powerful that were hostile to Israel (Is 2:14).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse provides a statement in Aramaic (the international language of that era): 'Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.' The Aramaic switch may be for proclamation to foreign nations or to make the point memorable in the language of exile. The criterion distinguishes true from fal...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Thus shall ye say unto them.**—The verse presents an almost unique phenomenon. It is not, like the rest of the book, in Hebrew, but in Chaldee or Aramaic, the language of the enemies of Israel. Two explanations have been offered—(1) that a marginal note, added by one of the exiles in Babylon, found its way at a later period into the text; (2) a far more probable view, viz., that the prophet...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. fan--**winnowed (compare Mt 3:12).
**whirlwind ... scatter them--**(Job 27:21; 30:22).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse celebrates creation: '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.' Three verbs with three divine attributes: 'made' (asah) with 'power' (koach), 'established' (kun) with 'wisdom' (chokmah), 'stretched out' (natah) with 'discretion/understanding' (tevunah). Creation displays divine strength, wisdo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **He hath made . . . he hath established.**—The words are participial in form, *making** . . .*** *establishing, *and complete the list of divine attributes in Jeremiah 10:10, contrasting the creative might of Jehovah with the impotence of the gods of the heathen.
**The world.**—As contrasted with the material earth, the inhabited world, the world considered in its relation to man, as in Prov...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. poor and needy--**primarily, the exiles in Babylon.
**water--**figuratively, refreshment, prosperity after their affliction. The language is so constructed as only very partially to apply to the local and temporary event of the restoration from Babylon; but fully to be realized in the waters of life and of the Spirit, under the Gospel (Is 30:25; 44:3; Joh 7:37-39; 4:14). God wrought no mir...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. multitude: or, noise with: or, for
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse describes YHWH's ongoing control of nature: 'When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens.' The Hebrew hamon mayim (הֲמוֹן מַיִם) describes the roaring sound of storm waters. God's 'voice' (qol) produces thunderstorms and rainfall. 'And he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth.' The water cycle—evaporation from seas—was observed if not ful...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **A multitude of waters.**—Better, *a rush of waters, *following on the thunder, which is thought of as the voice of God (comp. Psalm 29:3). The prophet finds the tokens of Almighty Power alike in the fixed order of the Cosmos and its most catastrophic perturbations. The strict construction of the Hebrew gives, *At the voice of His giving the roar of waters.*
**He maketh lightnings.**—The las...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18. Alluding to the waters with which Israel was miraculously supplied in the desert after having come out of Egypt.
**high places--**bare of trees, barren, and unwatered (Jr 4:11; 14:6). "High places ... valleys" spiritually express that in all circumstances, whether elevated or depressed, God's people will have refreshment for their souls, however little to be expected it might seem.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. brutish in his knowledge: or, more brutish than to know
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse returns to idol critique: 'Every man is brutish in his knowledge.' The Hebrew nivr (נִבְעַר) indicates stupidity, senselessness; 'knowledge' (da'ath) suggests that supposed wisdom produces foolishness when directed toward idols. 'Every founder is confounded by the graven image.' The Hebrew tsaraph (צָרָף, metalworker, refiner) should know best that his product is mere metal—yet he worsh...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Brutish in his knowledge.**—Literally, *from knowing, *i.e., *too brutish to know, *or, as some take it, *brutish without knowledge, *overwhelmed and astounded, so that the power of knowing fails.
**Every founder.**—The smelter, or worker in molten metal.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19. (Is 32:15; 55:13).
**shittah--**rather, the "acacia," or Egyptian thorn, from which the gum Arabic is obtained [Lowth].
**oil tree--**the olive.
**fir tree--**rather, the "cypress": grateful by its shade.
**pine--**Gesenius translates, "the holm."
**box tree--**not the shrub used for bordering flower beds, but [Gesenius] a kind of cedar, remarkable for the smallness of its cones, and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse pronounces judgment on idols: 'They are vanity, and the work of errors.' hevel (הֶבֶל, vanity, vapor, nothing) again dismisses idols as non-entities. 'Work of errors' (ma'aseh ta'tu'im, מַעֲשֵׂה תַּעְתֻּעִים) suggests mockery, delusion, or deception—idols are products of confused thinking. 'In the time of their visitation they shall perish.' The Hebrew paqad (פָּקַד, visitation) here me...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **The work of errors.**—Better, *a work of mockery, *i.e., *worthy of that and of that only, *the word being apparently substituted, after Jeremiah’s manner, for the technical word, not unlike in sound, which is translated “image work” in 2Chronicles 3:10.
**In the time of their visitation.**—i.e., in the time when they are visited with punishment, as in 1Peter 2:12; Isaiah 10:3, and Luke 19:...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. consider--**literally, "lay it (to heart)"; turn (their attention) to it. "They" refers to all lands (Is 41:1; Psa 64:9; 40:3). The effect on the Gentiles of God's open interposition hereafter in behalf of Israel shall be, they shall seek Israel's God (Is 2:3; Zec 8:21-23).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse celebrates Jacob's God: 'The portion of Jacob is not like them.' Jacob's 'portion' (cheleq, חֵלֶק) is his inheritance, his God—completely unlike worthless idols. 'For he is the former of all things.' yotser (יוֹצֵר, potter, former) describes God as cosmic craftsman who formed everything. Unlike human craftsmen making idols, the divine Potter formed the universe. 'And Israel is the rod o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **The portion of Jacob.**—As in Psalm 16:5; Psalm 119:57, God is described as the “portion,” *i.e., *as the treasure and inheritance of His people. He is no powerless idol, but the former, *i.e., *the creator, of all things, or more literally *of the all, i.e., *of the universe.
**The rod of his inheritance.**—The phrase was familiar in the poetry of Israel (Psalm 74:2; Isaiah 63:17—Heb.), bu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
21. A new challenge to the idolaters (see Is 41:1, 7) to say, can their idols predict future events as Jehovah can (Is 41:22-25, &c.)?
**your strong reasons--**the reasons for idol-worship which you think especially strong.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
The absurdity of idolatry. (Jr 10:1-16) Destruction denounced against Jerusalem. (Jr 10:17-25)
**Verses 1-16** The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving tha...
Read full commentary →Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse warns of coming judgment: 'Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.' The Hebrew imagery is of packing belongings for deportation. 'Inhabitant of the fortress' (yosheveth bammatsor) addresses those in fortified Jerusalem, trusting walls for safety. 'Fortress' provides illusion of security—but packing becomes necessary when God brings judgment. This verse transit...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Gather up thy wares.**—The section from Jeremiah 10:1-16 inclusive had been as a long parenthesis, reproving Israel for the sin which placed it among the “uncircumcised in the heart” (Jeremiah 9:26). Now the prophet returns to his main theme, the devastation of the land of Israel as the penalty of that sin. He begins with a vivid touch in the picture of utter misery. The daughter of Israel ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. what shall happen--**"Let them bring near and declare future contingencies" [Horsley].
**former things ... the latter end of them--**show what former predictions the idols have given, that we may compare the event ("latter end") with them; or give new prophecies ("declare things to come") (Is 42:9), [Maurer]. Barnes explains it more reconditely, "Let them foretell the entire series of even...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
Read full commentary →For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse announces divine action: 'For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once.' The Hebrew qala (קָלַע, sling) pictures God hurling the population out as stones from a sling—sudden, violent, irresistible. 'At this once' (happa'am) indicates the decisive, final nature of this judgment. 'And will distress them, that they may find it so.' The Hebrew t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **I will sling out.**—The same bold metaphor, though not the same word, for violent expulsion, is found in the prophecy of the fate of Shebna (Isaiah 22:18).
**That they may find it so.**—In the Hebrew, the verb, though transitive, stands by itself, without an object. The ellipsis has been filled up either by “it,” as in the English Version, *i.e., *may feel it in all its bitterness; or by “m...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. do good ... evil--**give any proof at all of your power, either to reward your friends or punish your enemies (Psa 115:2-8).
**that we may be dismayed, and behold it together--**Maurer translates, "That we (Jehovah and the idols) may look one another in the face (that is, encounter one another, 2Ki 14:8, 11), and see" our respective powers by a trial. Horsley translates, "Then the moment w...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
Read full commentary →Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse voices lament: 'Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous.' The Hebrew oi-li (אוֹי־לִי, woe to me) is a cry of anguish; makka (מַכָּה, wound, blow) indicates injury. The speaker may be Jeremiah, personified Jerusalem, or the community. 'But I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.' The Hebrew choli (חֹלִי, sickness, grief) and nasa (נָשָׂא, bear, carry) express resigned acce...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Woe is me . . .**—From this verse to the end of the chapter we have, with the prophet’s characteristic dramatic vividness, the lamentation of the daughter of Israel in her captivity, bewailing the transgressions that had led to it. That this follows immediately on Jeremiah 10:18 gives some support to the view above given as to the force of the words “that they may find.” Israel is represent...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. of nothing--**(See on Is 40:17). The Hebrew text is here corrupt; so English Version treats it.
**abomination--**abstract for concrete: not merely abominable, but the essence of whatever is so (De 18:12).
**chooseth you--**as an object of worship.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
Read full commentary →My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse extends the lament: 'My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken.' The Hebrew ohel (אֹהֶל, tent) uses nomadic imagery for dwelling place—Jerusalem or the entire nation portrayed as a destroyed tent. 'Cords broken' indicates the tent collapsing, protection removed. 'My children are gone forth of me, and they are not.' Exile has removed the next generation—absence produces desol...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **My tabernacle . . .**—The tent which had been the home of Israel is destroyed, the cords that fastened it to the ground are broken, the children that used to help their mother in arranging the tent and its curtains “are not,” *i.e. *(as in Genesis 42:36; Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18), they are either dead or in exile. There is something significant in the fact that the destruction of the ci...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. raised up--**in purpose: not fulfilled till a hundred fifty years afterwards.
**north--**In Is 41:2, "from the East"; both are true: see the note there.
**call ... my name--**acknowledge Me as God, and attribute his success to Me; this he did in the proclamation (Ezr 1:2). This does not necessarily imply that Cyrus renounced idolatry, but hearing of Isaiah's prophecy given a hundred fift...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
Read full commentary →For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse indicts leaders: 'For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD.' 'Pastors' (ro'im, רֹעִים, shepherds) are political and religious leaders. 'Brutish' (nivaru) indicates stupid, senseless—lacking understanding their position required. 'Not sought the LORD' (lo dareshu eth-YHWH) means they failed to inquire of God for guidance. 'Therefore they shall not prosper, and all...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **The pastors.**—The “shepherds,” used, as in Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 3:15, and elsewhere, of rulers generally, rather than of priests as such.
**Therefore they shall not prosper.**—Better, *therefore they have not done wisely. *This is the primary meaning of the word (that of prosperity, as the result of prudence, the secondary), and is adopted by the LXX., Vulg., and most other versions.
**A...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. Who--**of the idolatrous soothsayers? When this prophecy shall be fulfilled, all shall see that God foretold as to Cyrus, which none of the soothsayers have.
**beforetime--**before the event occurred.
**He is righteous--**rather, "It is true"; it was a true prophecy, as the event shows. "He is righteous," in English Version, must be interpreted, The fulfilment of the idol's words proves ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
Read full commentary →Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse announces invasion: 'Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country.' 'Bruit' (shemu'ah) means report, news—specifically news of approaching army. 'Great commotion' (ra'ash gadol) indicates earthquake-like tumult of marching forces. 'Out of the north country' identifies Babylon, which attacked Judah from the north via the Fertile Crescent. 'To mak...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Behold, the noise of the bruit is come.**—Better, *A cry is heard, Behold, it cometh. *The cry of terror is heard and it utters the tidings, terrible in their brevity, that the army of the invader is come, and with it the “great commotion,” the stir and rush of the army, coming from the north country of the Chaldeans. (Comp. Jeremiah 1:13.) In Matthew 25:6, “There was a cry made, Behold, th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
27. Rather, "I first will give to Zion and to Jerusalem the messenger of good tidings, Behold, behold them!" The clause, "Behold ... them" (the wished-for event is now present) is inserted in the middle of the sentence as a detached exclamation, by an elegant transposition, the language being framed abruptly, as one would speak in putting vividly as it were, before the eyes of others, some joyous ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
Read full commentary →O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse acknowledges human limitation: 'O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself.' The Hebrew derek adam (דֶּרֶךְ אָדָם, way of man) encompasses life path, destiny, choices. 'Not in himself' (lo-lo) affirms that humans do not control their destiny. 'It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.' The verb yashar (יָשַׁר, to make straight, direct) indicates guiding one's path. Hu...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **O Lord, I know . . .**—The confession is made not by the prophet for himself, but as by and for Israel.
**The way of** **man.**—The path which a man takes for good or evil, for failure or success. His conduct in life depends, the prophet says, on something more than his own choice :—
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.”
Compare Proverbs 16:9; Proverbs 20:24...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. no counsellor--**no one of the idolatrous soothsayers who could inform (Nu 24:14) those who consulted them what would take place. Compare "counsel of His messenger" (Is 44:26).
**when I asked--**that is, challenged them, in this chapter.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
Read full commentary →O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. bring: Heb. diminish me
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse requests measured discipline: 'O LORD, correct me, but with judgment.' The Hebrew yasar (יָסַר, correct, discipline, chasten) acknowledges the need for divine correction. 'With judgment' (bemishpat) means with justice, proportion, restraint—not in unbridled wrath. 'Not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.' The Hebrew aph (אַף, anger, nostril, wrath) if unleashed without restra...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **With judgment.**—The rendering is accurate, but the idea is, perhaps, better expressed by the translation of the same word in Jeremiah 30:11; Jeremiah 46:28 as “in measure.” In either case the discipline that comes from God as the righteous Judge, at once retributive and reformative, is contrasted with the punishment which is simply vindictive.
**Lest thou bring me to nothing.**—Literally, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. confusion--**"emptiness" [Barnes].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
Read full commentary →Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse concludes with prayer for justice against oppressors: 'Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not.' The Hebrew shaphak (שָׁפַךְ, pour out) with chemah (חֵמָה, heat, rage, fury) requests divine wrath directed at pagan nations. 'That know thee not' (lo yeda'ukha) identifies them as those lacking covenant relationship. 'And upon the families that call not on thy name.' Families/...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Pour out thy fury.**—The words are identical with those of Psalm 79:6-7, but it is more probable that the Psalmist borrowed from the Prophet. By many critics the Psalm is referred to the time of the Maccabees, and it would seem, from the language of Jeremiah 10:1-3, that it must at any rate have been after the destruction of the Temple by the Chaldeans. On the last supposition the two write...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-25** The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those canno...
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