Genesis 31:19

31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, ¹  Rachel stole the household idols ²  that belonged to her father.

Jude 1:14

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, ³  even prophesied of them, ⁴  saying, “Look! The Lord is coming ⁵  with thousands and thousands ⁶  of his holy ones,

Isaiah 44:9

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.

Isaiah 46:5

46:5 To whom can you compare and liken me?

Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!

Jeremiah 10:8

10:8 The people of those nations ⁷  are both stupid and foolish.

Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! ⁸ 

Jeremiah 14:22

14:22 Do any of the worthless idols ⁹  of the nations cause rain to fall?

Do the skies themselves send showers?

Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? ¹⁰ 

So we put our hopes in you ¹¹ 

because you alone do all this.”

Hosea 3:4

3:4 For the Israelites ¹²  must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

Habakkuk 2:18

2:18 What good ¹³  is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? ¹⁴ 

What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? ¹⁵ 

Why would its creator place his trust in it ¹⁶ 

and make ¹⁷  such mute, worthless things?

[31:19]  ¹ tn This disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new scene. In the English translation it may be subordinated to the following clause.

[31:19]  ² tn Or “household gods.” Some translations merely transliterate the Hebrew term תְּרָפִים (tÿrafim) as “teraphim,” which apparently refers to household idols. Some contend that possession of these idols guaranteed the right of inheritance, but it is more likely that they were viewed simply as protective deities. See M. Greenberg, “Another Look at Rachel’s Theft of the Teraphim,” JBL 81 (1962): 239-48.

[1:14]  ³ tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”

[1:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.

[1:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.

[10:8]  ⁷ tn Or “Those wise people and kings are…” It is unclear whether the subject is the “they” of the nations in the preceding verse, or the wise people and kings referred to. The text merely has “they.”

[10:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “The instruction of vanities [worthless idols] is wood.” The meaning of this line is a little uncertain. Various proposals have been made to make sense, most of which involve radical emendation of the text. For some examples see J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah (NICOT), 323-24, fn 6. However, this is probably a case of the bold predication that discussed in GKC 452 §141.d, some examples of which may be seen in Ps 109:4 “I am prayer,” and Ps 120:7 “I am peace.”

[14:22]  ⁹ tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel), often translated “vanities”, is a common pejorative epithet for idols or false gods. See already in 8:19 and 10:8.

[14:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Is it not you, O Lord our God?” The words “who does” are supplied in the translation for English style.

[14:22]  ¹¹ tn The rhetorical negatives are balanced by a rhetorical positive.

[3:4]  ¹² tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB “people of Israel” (likewise in the following verse).

[2:18]  ¹³ tn Or “of what value.”

[2:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “so that the one who forms it fashions it?” Here כִּי (ki) is taken as resultative after the rhetorical question. For other examples of this use, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.

[2:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “or a metal image, a teacher of lies.” The words “What good is” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line. “Teacher of lies” refers to the false oracles that the so-called god would deliver through a priest. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 126.

[2:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “so that the one who forms his image trusts in it?” As earlier in the verse, כִּי (ki) is resultative.

[2:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to make.”