Isaiah 41:24

41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;

the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. ¹ 

Isaiah 41:29

41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, ² 

their accomplishments are nonexistent;

their metal images lack any real substance. ³ 

Deuteronomy 27:15

27:15 ‘Cursed is the one ⁴  who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent ⁵  to the Lord, the work of the craftsman ⁶  – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ⁷ 

Psalms 97:7

97:7 All who worship idols are ashamed,

those who boast about worthless idols.

All the gods bow down before him. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 10:3-8

10:3 For the religion ⁹  of these people is worthless.

They cut down a tree in the forest,

and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. ¹⁰ 

10:4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold.

He uses hammer and nails to fasten it ¹¹  together

so that it will not fall over.

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.” ¹² 

10:6 I said, ¹³ 

“There is no one like you, Lord. ¹⁴ 

You are great.

And you are renowned for your power. ¹⁵ 

10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, ¹⁶ 

because you deserve to be revered. ¹⁷ 

For there is no one like you

among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. ¹⁸ 

10:8 The people of those nations ¹⁹  are both stupid and foolish.

Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 10:14-15

10:14 All these idolaters ²¹  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. ²² 

There is no breath in any of those idols. ²³ 

10:15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. ²⁴ 

When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

[41:24]  ¹ tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”

[41:29]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”

[27:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.

[27:15]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “craftsman’s hands.”

[27:15]  ⁷ tn Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.

[97:7]  ⁸ tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verbal form in the first line is an imperfect (“are ashamed”) and that the ambiguous form in the third line is a perfect (“bow down”) because the psalmist appears to be describing the effect of the Lord’s mighty theophany on those who witness it (see vv. 5, 8). Another option is to take the prefixed form in the first line as a jussive (“let all who worship idols be ashamed”) and the ambiguous form in the third line as an imperative (“All you gods, bow down before him!”; cf. NIV).

[10:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “statutes.” According to BDB 350 s.v. חֻקָּה 2.b it refers to the firmly established customs or practices of the pagan nations. Compare the usage in Lev 20:23; 2 Kgs 17:8. Here it is essentially equivalent to דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) in v. 1, which has already been translated “religious practices.”

[10:3]  ¹⁰ sn This passage is dripping with sarcasm. It begins by talking about the “statutes” of the pagan peoples as a “vapor” using a singular copula and singular predicate. Then it suppresses the subject, the idol, as though it were too horrible to mention, using only the predications about it. The last two lines read literally: “[it is] a tree which one cuts down from the forest; the work of the hands of a craftsman with his chisel.”

[10:4]  ¹¹ tn The pronoun is plural in Hebrew, referring to the parts.

[10:5]  ¹² tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”

[10:6]  ¹³ tn The words “I said” are not in the Hebrew text, but there appears to be a shift in speaker. Someone is now addressing the Lord. The likely speaker is Jeremiah, so the words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:6]  ¹⁴ tn The form that introduces this line has raised debate. The form מֵאֵין (me’en) normally means “without” and introduces a qualification of a term expressing desolation or “so that not” and introduces a negative result (cf. BDB 35 s.v. II אַיִן 6.b). Neither of these nuances fit either this verse or the occurrence in v. 7. BDB 35 s.v. II אַיִן 6.b.γ notes that some have explained this as a strengthened form of אַיִן (’ayin) which occurs in a similar phrase five other times (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 8:23). Though many including BDB question the validity of this solution it is probably better than the suggestion that BDB gives of repointing to מֵאַיִן (me’ayin, “whence”), which scarcely fits the context of v. 7, or the solution of HALOT 41 s.v. I אַיִן, which suggests that the מ (mem) is a double writing (dittograph) of the final consonant from the preceding word. That would assume that the scribe made the same error twice or was influenced the second time by the first erroneous writing.

[10:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Great is your name in power.”

[10:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Who should not revere you…?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[10:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “For it is fitting to you.”

[10:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “their royalty/dominion.” This is a case of substitution of the abstract for the concrete “royalty, royal power” for “kings” who exercise it.

[10:8]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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.”

[10:14]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”

[10:14]  ²³ 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.

[10:15]  ²⁴ tn Or “objects of mockery.”