115:4 Their 4 idols are made of silver and gold –
they are man-made. 5
115:5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
115:6 ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell,
115:7 hands, but cannot touch,
feet, but cannot walk.
They cannot even clear their throats. 6
41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, 7
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe. 8
46:1 Bel 9 kneels down,
Nebo 10 bends low.
Their images weigh down animals and beasts. 11
Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. 12
46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not 13 move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.
They cannot talk.
They must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them
because they cannot hurt you.
And they do not have any power to help you.” 14
10:11 You people of Israel should tell those nations this:
‘These gods did not make heaven and earth.
They will disappear 15 from the earth and from under the heavens.’ 16
10:1 You people of Israel, 17 listen to what the Lord has to say to you.
1 sn Elijah’s sarcastic proposals would have been especially offensive and irritating to Baal’s prophets, for they believed Baal was imprisoned in the underworld as death’s captive during this time of drought. Elijah’s apparent ignorance of their theology is probably designed for dramatic effect; indeed the suggestion that Baal is away on a trip or deep in sleep comes precariously close to the truth as viewed by the prophets.
2 tn Heb “when noon passed they prophesied until the offering up of the offering.”
3 tc The Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta include the following words here: “When it was time to offer the sacrifice, Elijah the Tishbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations: ‘Stand aside for the time being, and I will offer my burnt offering.’ So they stood aside and departed.”
4 tn The referent of the pronominal suffix is “the nations” (v. 2).
5 tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”
6 tn Heb “they cannot mutter in their throats.” Verse 5a refers to speaking, v. 7c to inarticulate sounds made in the throat (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:140-41).
7 tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”
8 tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).
9 sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.
10 sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.
11 tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”
12 tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”
13 tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.
14 tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”
15 tn Aram “The gods who did not make…earth will disappear…” The sentence is broken up in the translation to avoid a long, complex English sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.
16 tn This verse is in Aramaic. It is the only Aramaic sentence in Jeremiah. Scholars debate the appropriateness of this verse to this context. Many see it as a gloss added by a postexilic scribe which was later incorporated into the text. Both R. E. Clendenen (“Discourse Strategies in Jeremiah 10,” JBL 106 [1987]: 401-8) and W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:324-25, 334-35) have given detailed arguments that the passage is not only original but the climax and center of the contrast between the
17 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
18 tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).