Discovery BoxPsalms 115:4-8
Context115:4 Their 1 idols are made of silver and gold –
they are man-made. 2
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. 3
115:8 Those who make them will end up 4 like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
Deuteronomy 4:28
Context4:28 There you will worship gods made by human hands – wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.
Isaiah 37:19
Context37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, 5 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. 6
Isaiah 40:19-20
Context40:19 A craftsman casts 7 an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; 8
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make 9 an idol that will not fall over.
Isaiah 44:9-20
Context44:9 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? 10
44:11 Look, all his associates 11 will be put to shame;
the craftsmen are mere humans. 12
Let them all assemble and take their stand!
They will panic and be put to shame.
44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool 13
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it 14 with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy; 15
he drinks no water and gets tired.
44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; 16
he marks out an outline of its form; 17
he scrapes 18 it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form, 19
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine. 20
44:14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress 21 or an oak.
He gets 22 trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar 23 and the rain makes it grow.
44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; 24
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it. 25
44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –
over that half he cooks 26 meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
44:17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern. 27
44:19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire –
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 28
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ 30
Isaiah 46:6-7
Context46:6 Those who empty out gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on the scale 31
hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.
They then bow down and worship it.
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 32 move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
Jeremiah 10:3-11
Context10:3 For the religion 33 of these people is worthless.
They cut down a tree in the forest,
and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. 34
10:4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold.
He uses hammer and nails to fasten it 35 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.” 36
“There is no one like you, Lord. 38
You are great.
And you are renowned for your power. 39
10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, 40
because you deserve to be revered. 41
For there is no one like you
among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. 42
10:8 The people of those nations 43 are both stupid and foolish.
Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! 44
10:9 Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish 45
and gold is brought from Uphaz 46 to cover those idols. 47
They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths. 48
They are clothed in blue and purple clothes. 49
They are all made by skillful workers. 50
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 51 from the earth and from under the heavens.’ 52
Habakkuk 2:18-19
Context2:18 What good 53 is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? 54
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? 55
Why would its creator place his trust in it 56
and make 57 such mute, worthless things?
2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead 58 –
he who says 59 to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance? 60
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
Acts 17:29
Context17:29 So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity 61 is like gold or silver or stone, an image 62 made by human 63 skill 64 and imagination. 65
[115:4] 1 tn The referent of the pronominal suffix is “the nations” (v. 2).
[115:4] 2 tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”
[115:7] 3 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).
[115:8] 4 tn Heb “will be.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a prayer, “may those who make them end up like them.”
[37:19] 5 tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”
[37:19] 6 tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).
[40:19] 7 tn Heb “pours out”; KJV “melteth.”
[40:20] 8 tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.
[40:20] 9 tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”
[44:10] 10 tn The rhetorical question is sarcastic. The sense is, “Who is foolish enough…?”
[44:11] 11 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] 12 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.”
[44:12] 13 tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.
[44:12] 14 tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.
[44:12] 15 tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”
[44:13] 16 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
[44:13] 17 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
[44:13] 18 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
[44:13] 19 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
[44:13] 20 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”
[44:14] 21 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
[44:14] 22 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
[44:14] 23 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (’oren) to אֶרֶז (’erez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”
[44:15] 24 tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”
[44:15] 25 tn Or perhaps, “them.”
[44:16] 26 tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”
[44:18] 27 tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”
[44:19] 28 tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.
[44:20] 29 tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”
[44:20] 30 tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”
[46:6] 31 tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.
[46:7] 32 tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.
[10:3] 33 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] 34 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] 35 tn The pronoun is plural in Hebrew, referring to the parts.
[10:5] 36 tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”
[10:6] 37 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
[10:6] 38 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] 39 tn Heb “Great is your name in power.”
[10:7] 40 tn Heb “Who should not revere you…?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
[10:7] 41 tn Heb “For it is fitting to you.”
[10:7] 42 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] 43 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] 44 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] 45 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] 46 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] 47 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] 48 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] 49 tn Heb “Blue and purple their clothing.”
[10:9] 50 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] 51 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] 52 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
[2:18] 53 tn Or “of what value.”
[2:18] 54 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] 55 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] 56 tn Heb “so that the one who forms his image trusts in it?” As earlier in the verse, כִּי (ki) is resultative.
[2:19] 58 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who says.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:19] 59 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
[2:19] 60 tn Though the Hebrew text has no formal interrogative marker here, the context indicates that the statement should be taken as a rhetorical question anticipating the answer, “Of course not!” (so also NIV, NRSV).
[17:29] 61 tn Or “the divine being.” BDAG 446 s.v. θεῖος 1.b has “divine being, divinity” here.
[17:29] 62 tn Or “a likeness.” Again idolatry is directly attacked as an affront to God and a devaluation of him.
[17:29] 63 tn Grk “by the skill and imagination of man,” but ἀνθρώπου (anqrwpou) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
[17:29] 64 tn Or “craftsmanship” (cf. BDAG 1001 s.v. τέχνη).
[17:29] 65 tn Or “thought.” BDAG 336 s.v. ἐνθύμησις has “thought, reflection, idea” as the category of meaning here, but in terms of creativity (as in the context) the imaginative faculty is in view.
