Jeremiah 10:8

Translations

Modern

But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!

Traditional

But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.

Literal

But they are altogether senseless and foolish, the teaching of of vanities, it is of wood!

Latin

Pariter insipientes et fatui probabuntur: doctrina vanitatis eorum lignum est.

Original

Hebrew

English

But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!

Notes

Jeremiah 10:1–16

This poetic passage criticizes idol worship and affirms the unity and majesty of the one true God. It is not a logical discussion of divinity in nature or a detailed statement about God's attributes. Instead, it is a poem about the foolishness of worshiping idols that the worshipers have made. It includes strong affirmations of faith that clearly declare who God is.

Jeremiah 10:1–25

This poetic passage has three parts:

A contrast between the Lord and pagan idols (Jeremiah 10:1–16)
A reflection on the destruction awaiting idol worshipers (Jeremiah 10:17–18, 19–22)
A prayer asking God to act with restraint in the coming judgment and to ensure the pagan nations do not go unpunished (Jeremiah 10:23–25).

Theme notes and profiles

Jeremiah God’s Uniqueness

Events

Prophecies of Jeremiahc. 628 BC

Related verses

Zechariah 10:2
For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
Jeremiah 10:14
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
Jeremiah 51:17–18
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
Habakkuk 2:18
What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
Romans 1:21–22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
Psalm 135:18
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Isaiah 41:29
See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
Psalm 115:8
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Hosea 4:12
My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
Isaiah 44:19
And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
Jeremiah 2:27
…say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Yet in the time of trouble, they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’
Jeremiah 4:22
“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”

Glossary

Bible, Manuscripts and Text of the (Old Testament) Body Book of Jeremiah Jeremiah (Person)

Topics

Fools: Worship Idols Idolatry: Folly of Vanity: Idolatry Is

Jeremiah 10:8

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