This scathing exposé of the folly of idolatry resembles several polemics in Isaiah (cf. Isa. 40:18-20; 41:6-7; 44:9-20; 46:5-7). Verses 12-16 appear again in 51:15-19.
"Why did so easy a target as idolatry need so many attacks in the Old Testament? Verse 9 suggests one reason: the appeal of the visually impressive; but perhaps verse 2 goes deeper, in pointing to the temptation to fall into step with the majority."208
A study of the architecture of the passage reveals alternating assertions about idols (vv. 2-5, 8-9, 11, 14-15) and Yahweh (vv. 6-7, 10, 12-13, 16).
"Theologically these verses are of great significance, for they set Yahweh apart from every other object of worship. . . . As Lord of the covenant Yahweh demanded total unswerving loyalty from his subjects. Any attempt to share allegiance to him with another merited judgment, for it amounted to a rejection of the covenant. In that case the curses of the covenant became operative."209
10:1 The prophet again called his Israelite audience to hear the message that Yahweh had for them. There were people in Judah who were venerating idols who needed to hear this message.
10:2 He warned His people not to be disciples of the Gentile nations, specifically not to let the celestial phenomena that the nations looked to for guidance frighten them. The nations regarded abnormalities in the heavens as divine signs and held them in awe, particularly unusual phenomena such as comets, meteors, and eclipses. But it was Yahweh who controlled these things (cf. Gen. 1:14; Hab. 3:4, 11).
10:3 The worship of the Gentiles was an empty delusion. They worshipped only wood cut from the forest that a craftsman shaped with a tool. These gods were no more than pieces of wood.
10:4 They decorated their idols with precious metal and nailed them in place so they would not fall over. How ridiculous it is to worship something that cannot even keep itself upright much less its devotees.
10:5 These idols were similar to scarecrows whose only power is to frighten birds. They did not speak to command, counsel, or comfort their worshippers. They could not walk to come to the aid of their worshippers. People had to carry them; they were burdens to be borne rather than bearers of their worshippers' burdens. God's people should not fear them because they do neither harm nor good. They are do-nothing gods.
10:6 Yahweh, on the other hand, is unique among the deities that people worship. He is great, and He had a reputation for acting mightily.
10:7 People naturally fear Him (cf. v. 5) because He is the sovereign over all nations. The ancients believed that idols only had authority over certain geographical territories. Yahweh is also wiser than any wise men anywhere.
10:8 So-called wise men from the nations who worship a wooden idol are really stupid and foolish (cf. 1 Cor. 1:21). Their disciplined worship is just a delusion accomplishing nothing.
10:9 The idolaters imported silver from Tarshish to the far west, probably Tartessus in Spain, and gold from Uphaz (location unknown).210Craftsmen and goldsmiths then glorified these images that had no glory of their own. They dressed the idols up like little kings with royal-colored fabrics, but that did not make them kings since they were merely human artifacts.
10:10 Yahweh is the true God; idols are false gods. He is alive; they are dead, really nonexistent. He is the King who lives forever; they are only temporary and destructible. He controls the earth and makes it quake when He is angry; they have no power at all. The nations are unable to endure His indignation when He manifests it; the idols have no indignation and are impotent to manifest any feelings whatsoever.
10:11 Jeremiah instructed his audience to say that these idols would perish because they were human creations rather than the divine Creator.
This is the only Aramaic verse in Jeremiah.
"The Tg [Targum] prefaces v 11 with these words: This is the copy of the letter which the Prophet Jeremiah sent to the leaders of the exile in Babylon: "If the Chaldeans say to you, worship our idols, then answer them as follows."This suggests that v 11 was a shortened version of a letter sent by Jeremiah to Jehoiachin and the other exiles in Babylon [where Aramaic was spoken] between 598 and 587 B.C. (compare 29:1-32)."211
Another possibility is that this verse represents a well-known saying that someone, perhaps an Aramaic speaker, added to the text under divine inspiration. 212
10:12 Yahweh is the Creator. His power, wisdom, and understanding were responsible for creating and establishing the universe.
10:13 He is responsible for the rains and storms, even the lightning, on the earth. He summons the winds from His celestial storehouse with a mere word, and they blow on the earth. The Canaanites attributed all these powers to Baal. Every thunderstorm testifies to the omnipotence of Yahweh.
10:14 Everyone who worships idols is stupid and ignorant (cf. 1 Cor. 8:4-6). Their inability to do anything shames those who glorify them.
10:15 Idols have no worth. They mock those who make them by their silence. And they are unable to defend themselves so they perish whenever the true God chooses to humiliate them.
10:16 Yahweh, the God who gave Himself in a special relationship to such an unworthy person as Jacob, is not like the idols because He is the Creator. He adopted Israel as His special treasure among the nations (Exod. 19:5-6). He is Yahweh Almighty.
