Discovery BoxJeremiah 10:8-16
Context10:8 The people of those nations 1 are both stupid and foolish.
Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! 2
10:9 Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish 3
and gold is brought from Uphaz 4 to cover those idols. 5
They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths. 6
They are clothed in blue and purple clothes. 7
They are all made by skillful workers. 8
10:10 The Lord is the only true God.
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
When he shows his anger the earth shakes.
None of the nations can stand up to his fury.
10:11 You people of Israel should tell those nations this:
‘These gods did not make heaven and earth.
They will disappear 9 from the earth and from under the heavens.’ 10
10:12 The Lord is the one who 11 by his power made the earth.
He is the one who by his wisdom established the world.
And by his understanding he spread out the skies.
10:13 When his voice thunders, 12 the heavenly ocean roars.
He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons. 13
He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.
He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it. 14
10:14 All these idolaters 15 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. 16
There is no breath in any of those idols. 17
10:15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. 18
When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.
10:16 The Lord, who is the inheritance 19 of Jacob’s descendants, 20 is not like them.
He is the one who created everything.
And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own. 21
He is known as the Lord who rules over all.” 22
[10:8] 1 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] 2 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.”
[10:9] 3 tc Two Qumran scrolls of Jeremiah (4QJera and 4QJerb) reflect a Hebrew text that is very different than the traditional MT from which modern Bibles have been translated. The Hebrew text in these two manuscripts is similar to that from which LXX was translated. This is true both in small details and in major aspects where the LXX differs from MT. Most notably, 4QJera, 4QJerb and LXX present a version of Jeremiah about 13% shorter than the longer version found in MT. One example of this shorter text is Jer 10:3-11 in which MT and 4QJera both have all nine verses, while LXX and 4QJerb both lack vv. 6-8 and 10, which extol the greatness of God. In addition, the latter part of v. 9 is arranged differently in LXX and 4QJerb. The translation here follows MT which is supported by 4QJera.
[10:9] 4 tn This is a place of unknown location. It is mentioned again in Dan 10:5. Many emend the word to “Ophir” following the Syriac version and the Aramaic Targum. Ophir was famous for its gold (cf. 1 Kgs 9:28; Job 28:16).
[10:9] 5 tn The words “to cover those idols” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[10:9] 6 tn The words “They are” are not in the text. The text reads merely, “the work of the carpenter and of the hands of the goldsmith.” The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[10:9] 7 tn Heb “Blue and purple their clothing.”
[10:9] 8 sn There is an ironic pun in this last line. The Hebrew word translated “skillful workers” is the same word that is translated “wise people” in v. 7. The artisans do their work skillfully but they are not “wise.”
[10:11] 9 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.
[10:11] 10 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
[10:12] 11 tn The words “The
[10:13] 12 tn Heb “At the voice of his giving.” The idiom “to give the voice” is often used for thunder (cf. BDB 679 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.x).
[10:13] 13 tn Heb “from the ends of the earth.”
[10:13] 14 tn Heb “he brings out the winds from his storehouses.”
[10:14] 15 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] 16 tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”
[10:14] 17 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] 18 tn Or “objects of mockery.”
[10:16] 19 tn The words “The
[10:16] 20 tn Heb “The Portion of Jacob.” “Descendants” is implied, and is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[10:16] 21 tn Heb “And Israel is the tribe of his possession.”
