Exodus 20:4

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ¹  or any likeness ²  of anything ³  that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. ⁴ 

Leviticus 26:1

Exhortation to Obedience

26:1 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols, ⁵  so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before ⁶  it, for I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 5:8

5:8 You must not make for yourself an image ⁷  of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 27:15

27:15 ‘Cursed is the one ⁹  who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent ¹⁰  to the Lord, the work of the craftsman ¹¹  – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ¹² 

Isaiah 37:18-19

37:18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations ¹³  and their lands. 37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, ¹⁴  for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 41:29

41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, ¹⁶ 

their accomplishments are nonexistent;

their metal images lack any real substance. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 42:17

42:17 Those who trust in idols

will turn back and be utterly humiliated, ¹⁸ 

those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”

Isaiah 44:9-11

44:9 All who form idols are nothing;

the things in which they delight are worthless.

Their witnesses cannot see;

they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.

44:10 Who forms a god and casts an idol

that will prove worthless? ¹⁹ 

44:11 Look, all his associates ²⁰  will be put to shame;

the craftsmen are mere humans. ²¹ 

Let them all assemble and take their stand!

They will panic and be put to shame.

Jeremiah 10:14

10:14 All these idolaters ²²  will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham. ²³ 

There is no breath in any of those idols. ²⁴ 

Revelation 14:8-10

14:8 A ²⁵  second ²⁶  angel ²⁷  followed the first, ²⁸  declaring: ²⁹  “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city! ³⁰  She made all the nations ³¹  drink of the wine of her immoral passion.” ³² 

14:9 A ³³  third angel ³⁴  followed the first two, ³⁵  declaring ³⁶  in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 14:10 that person ³⁷  will also drink of the wine of God’s anger ³⁸  that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur ³⁹  in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb.

[20:4]  ¹ tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.

[20:4]  ² tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).

[20:4]  ³ tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[26:1]  ⁵ sn For the literature regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִם, ’elilim), see the literature cited in the note on Lev 19:4. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (’el, “god, God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless, weak, powerless, nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”

[26:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “on.” The “sculpted stone” appears to be some sort of stone with images carved into (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 181, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 449).

[5:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “an image, any likeness.”

[5:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “under the earth” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “below the land.”

[27:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.

[27:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

[27:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “craftsman’s hands.”

[27:15]  ¹² tn Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.

[37:18]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text here has “all the lands,” but the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:17 has “the nations.”

[37:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”

[37:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).

[41:29]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.

[41:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”

[42:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “be ashamed with shame”; ASV, NASB “be utterly put to shame.”

[44:10]  ¹⁹ tn The rhetorical question is sarcastic. The sense is, “Who is foolish enough…?”

[44:11]  ²⁰ tn The pronoun “his” probably refers to the one who forms/casts an idol (v. 10), in which case it refers to the craftsman’s associates in the idol-manufacturing guild.

[44:11]  ²¹ sn The point seems to be this: If the idols are the mere products of human hands, then those who trust in them will be disappointed, for man-made gods are incapable of helping their “creators.”

[10:14]  ²² tn Heb “Every man.” But in the context this is not a reference to all people without exception but to all idolaters. The referent is made explicit for the sake of clarity.

[10:14]  ²³ tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”

[10:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “There is no breath in them.” The referent is made explicit so that no one will mistakenly take it to refer to the idolaters or goldsmiths.

[14:8]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:8]  ²⁶ tc There are several different variants comprising a textual problem involving “second” (δεύτερος, deuteros). First, several mss (A 1 2329 Ï^K) read “another, a second angel” (ἄλλος δεύτερος ἄγγελος, allo" deutero" angelo"). Second, other mss (Ì⁴⁷ א* 1006 1841 1854 pc) read just “another, a second” (ἄλλος δεύτερος). Third, the reading “another angel” (ἄλλος ἄγγελος) is supported by a few Greek mss and some versional evidence (69 pc ar vg). Fourth, several mss (א² [C reads δεύτερον instead of δεύτερος] 051 1611 2053 2344 Ï^A) support the reading “another, a second angel” (ἄλλος ἄγγελος δεύτερος). The reading that most likely gave rise to the others is the fourth. The first reading attempts to smooth out the grammar by placing the adjective in front of the noun. The second reading may have dropped out the “angel” on the basis of its similarity to “another” (ἄλλος). The third reading either intentionally or accidentally left out the word “second.” In any event, this is weakly attested and should not be given much consideration. (If, however, this reading had had good support, with “second” floating, and with “third” in the text in 14:9, one could possibly see δεύτερος as a motivated reading. But without sufficient support for the third reading, the one thing that is most certain is that δεύτερος was part of the original text here.) It is difficult to account for the rise of the other readings if “second” is not original. And the undisputed use of “third” (τρίτος, tritos) in 14:9 may be another indicator that the adjective “second” was in the original text. Finally, the fourth reading is the more difficult and therefore, in this case, to be accepted as the progenitor of the others.

[14:8]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And another angel, a second.”

[14:8]  ²⁸ tn The words “the first” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[14:8]  ²⁹ tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.

[14:8]  ³⁰ sn The fall of Babylon the great city is described in detail in Rev 18:2-24.

[14:8]  ³¹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[14:8]  ³² tn Grk “of the wine of the passion of the sexual immorality of her.” Here τῆς πορνείας (th" porneia") has been translated as an attributive genitive. In an ironic twist of fate, God will make Babylon drink her own mixture, but it will become the wine of his wrath in retribution for her immoral deeds (see the note on the word “wrath” in 16:19).

[14:9]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:9]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And another angel, a third.”

[14:9]  ³⁵ tn Grk “followed them.”

[14:9]  ³⁶ tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.

[14:10]  ³⁷ tn Grk “he himself.”

[14:10]  ³⁸ tn The Greek word for “anger” here is θυμός (qumos), a wordplay on the “passion” (θυμός) of the personified city of Babylon in 14:8.

[14:10]  ³⁹ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”