5 They are as a palm-column of turned work, and they speak not; they are carried, for they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
They bear him on the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place; there he standeth, he doth not remove from his place: yea, one crieth unto him, and he answereth not; he saveth him not out of his trouble.
Ye know that when ye were [of the] nations [ye were] led away to dumb idols, in whatever way ye might be led.
declare the things that are to happen hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods; yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be astonished, and behold it together. Behold, ye are less than nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you. ...
Bel is bowed down, Nebo bendeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things ye carried are laid on, a burden to the weary [beast].
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
They have a mouth, and they speak not; eyes have they, and they see not; They have ears, and they hear not; a nose have they, and they smell not; They have hands, and they handle not; feet have they, and they walk not; they give no sound through their throat. They that make them are like unto them, -- every one that confideth in them.
They have a mouth, and they speak not; eyes have they, and they see not; They have ears, and they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouth. They that make them are like unto them, -- every one that confideth in them.
They that form a graven image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things are of no profit; and they are their own witnesses: they see not, nor know; -- that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a ùgod, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
-- concerning then the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol [is] nothing in [the] world, and that there [is] no other God save one.
And it deceives those that dwell upon the earth by reason of the signs which it was given to it to work before the beast, saying to those that dwell upon the earth to make an image to the beast, which has the wound of the sword, and lived. And it was given to it to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should also speak, and should cause that as many as should not do homage to the image of the beast should be killed.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 10
Commentary on Jeremiah 10 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 10
We may conjecture that the prophecy of this chapter was delivered after the first captivity, in the time of Jeconiah or Jehoiachin, when many were carried away to Babylon; for it has a double reference:-
Jer 10:1-16
The prophet Isaiah, when he prophesied of the captivity in Babylon, added warnings against idolatry and largely exposed the sottishness of idolaters, not only because the temptations in Babylon would be in danger of drawing the Jews there to idolatry, but because the afflictions in Babylon were designed to cure them of their idolatry. Thus the prophet Jeremiah here arms people against the idolatrous usages and customs of the heathen, not only for the use of those that had gone to Babylon, but of those also that staid behind, that being convinced and reclaimed, by the word of God, the rod might be prevented; and it is written for our learning. Observe here,
Jer 10:17-25
In these verses,