Jeremiah10chapter 10

Jeremiah 10:1

“Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you - Dr. Dahler supposes this discourse to have been delivered in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim. It contains an invective against idolatry; showing its absurdity, and that the Creator alone should be worshipped by all mankind.”

Jeremiah 10:2

“Learn not the way of the heathen - These words are more particularly addressed to the ten tribes scattered among the heathen by the Assyrians, who carried them away captive; they may also regard those in the land of Israel who still had the customs of the former heathen settlers before their eyes. Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed - The Chaldeans and Egyptians were notoriously addicated to astrology; and the Israelites here are cautioned against it.”

Jeremiah 10:3

“The customs of the people are vain - חקות chukkoth; the statutes and principles of the science are vain, empty, and illusory. They are founded in nonsense, ignorance, idolatry, and folly. One cutteth a tree out of the forest - See the notes on Isa 40:19 (note), and Isa 44:9 (note), etc., which are all parallel places and where this conduct is strongly ridiculed.”

Jeremiah 10:3

“The Chaldeans valued themselves upon their wisdom, in which they thought that they excelled all their neighbours; but the prophet here shows that they, and all others that worshipped idols and expected help and relief from them, were brutish and sottish, and had not common sense. (1.) Consider what the idol is that is worshipped. It was a tree cut out of the forest originally.”

Jeremiah 10:4

“They deck it - It was covered with plates of gold and silver, and then fastened with nails in its place, that it might not “more, i. e.” tumble down. The agreement in this and the following verses with the argument in Isa. 40–44 is so manifest, that no one can doubt that the one is modelled upon the other. If, therefore, Jeremiah took the thoughts and phrases from Isaiah, it is plain that the last 27 chapters of Isaiah were prior in date to Jeremiah’s time, and were not therefore written at the close of the Babylonian exile.”

Jeremiah 10:5

“They are upright ... - Rather, “They are like a palm tree of turned work, i. e.” like one of those stiff inelegant pillars, something like a palm tree, which may be seen in oriental architecture. Some translate thus: “They are like pillar’s in a garden of cucumbers, i. e.” like the blocks set up to frighten away the birds; but none of the ancient versions support this rendering.”

Jeremiah 10:6

“Men's name is often beyond their might; they are thought to be greater than they are; but God's name is great, and no greater than he really is. And therefore who would not fear thee, O King of nations? Who would not choose to worship such a God as this, that can do every thing, rather than such dead idols as the heathen worship, that can do nothing?”

Jeremiah 10:7

O King of nations - i. e., pagan nations. Yahweh is not the national God of the Jews only, but He reigns over all mankind Psa 22:28. It - i. e., everything. In all their kingdoms - More correctly, “in all their royalty or kingship.”

Jeremiah 10:8

“The stock is a doctrine of vanities - Dr. Blayney translates, - “The wood itself is a rebuker of vanities.” The very tree out of which the god is hewn demonstrates the vanity and folly of the idolaters; for, can all the art of man make out of a log of wood an animate and intelligent being?”

Jeremiah 10:8

“Man divests himself of his true humanity, and sinks to the level of the brute, when he severs his connection with God (Ps 115:8; Jon 2:8). stock is a doctrine of vanities--The stock (put for the worship of all idols whatever, made out of a stock) speaks for itself that the whole theory of idolatry is vanity (Isa 44:9-11).”

Jeremiah 10:9

“Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish,.... In Cilicia, where the Apostle Paul was born; according to Josephus, as Jerom says, it was a country in India. The Targum renders it, from Africa, and calls it silver "rolled up", or "covered"; so the Vulgate Latin; such was beaten with a hammer into plates, and might be rolled up for better convenience of shipment; and with which they covered and decked their idols, to make them look glittering and pompous, and command some awe and reverence from the common people.”

Jeremiah 10:9

“Or, “It is a piece of wood (Jer 10:8 note); yea, beaten silver it is, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz: it is the work etc.” Tarshish ... Uphaz - See the marginal reference and Gen 10:4. Possibly Uphaz was a place in the neighborhood of the River Hyphasis. Blue and purple - Both colors were purple, from dyes obtained from shellfish: but the former had a violet, the latter a red tinge.”

Jeremiah 10:9

“As the Septuagint in the Syrian Hexapla in the Margin, THEODOTUS, the Syrian and Chaldee versions have "Ophir," GESENIUS thinks "Uphaz" a colloquial corruption (one letter only being changed) for "Ophir." Ophir, in Ge 10:29, is mentioned among Arabian countries. Perhaps Malacca is the country meant, the natives of which still call their gold mines Ophirs.”

Jeremiah 10:10

“But the Lord - The original word should be preserved, however we agree to pronounce it: יהוה Yehovah is the true God. He is without beginning, and without end. This is true of no being else. He is the living God - His being is underived; and he gives life to all. He is the very Fountain whence all life is derived. And an everlasting king - As he has made, so he governs, all things. His sway is felt both in the heavens and in the earth.”

Jeremiah 10:11

“This verse is (in the original) in Chaldee. It was probably a proverbial saying, which Jeremiah inserts in its popular form.”

Jeremiah 10:11

“This verse is in Chaldee, Jeremiah supplying his countrymen with a formula of reply to Chaldee idolaters in the tongue most intelligible to the latter.”

Jeremiah 10:12

“Discretion - Or, understanding. The three attributes ascribed to the Creator are very remarkable. The creation of the earth, the material world, is an act of “power;” the “establishing,” i. e., the ordering and arranging it as a place fit for man’s abode, is the work of his “wisdom;” while the spreading out the heavens over it like a tent is an act of “understanding,” or skill. Naturally, the consideration of these attributes has led many to see here an allusion to the Holy Trinity.”

Jeremiah 10:12-13

“It was a common saying even among the Greeks-- He that sets up to be another god ought first to make another world. While the heathen worship gods that they made, we worship the God that made us and all things. First, The earth is a body of vast bulk, has valuable treasures in its bowels and more valuable fruit on its surface.”

Jeremiah 10:13

“When ... - i. e., the rushing downpour of rain follows immediately upon the thunder. The rest of the verse is identical with marginal reference; but probably the words belong to Jeremiah, the Psalm being of comparatively late date. With rain - For the rain Psa 135:7.”

Jeremiah 10:14

“Every man is brutish - נבער nibar, is a boor, acts as a brute, who may suppose that a stock of a tree, formed like a man, may be an intellectual being; and therefore shuns the form as though it had life. See Isa 44:10, Isa 44:11. Of which verses, by the way, Dr. Blayney gives the following version to correct that of Bishop Lowth: - Isa 44:10. Who hath formed a god? Or set up a graven image that profiteth not? Isa 44:”

Jeremiah 10:15

“They are vanity,.... They are the fruit of the vain imagination of men; to worship them shows the vanity of the human mind; and they are vain things to trust to: and the work of errors; of erroneous men, and which lead men into errors; and are worthy to be laughed at, as the Targum paraphrases it.”

Jeremiah 10:16

“The Portion of Jacob is not like them - Every nation had its tutelary god; this was its portion; in reference to this God says Deu 4:19, “He has divided the sun, moon, and stars, to all the nations under the heaven.” And the Lord had taken the Israelites to be his portion; for “the Lord’s portion is his people,” Deu 32:9, and David says, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance,” Psa 16:5; Psa 119:67. And hence Isaiah terms the smooth stones of the brook, to which Divine honors were paid, the portion of those idolaters, Isa 57:”

Jeremiah 10:17

“Gather up thy wares out of the land,.... Or thy merchandise, as the Targum; or thy substance, as the Septuagint; all valuable effects and goods that are movable, which might be carried from place to place. The meaning is, that the Jews would gather up their riches from the several parts of the land of Judea, and bring them to Jerusalem, a fortified place; or they would be in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy.”

Jeremiah 10:17

“The prophet now returns to the main subject of his sermon, the conquest of Judaea. Thy wares - Rather, thy bundle, which could contain a few articles for necessary use, and be carried in the hand. They are going into exile. O inhabitant of the fortress - i. e., thou that art besieged, that inhabitest a besieged town.”

Jeremiah 10:18

“I will sling out the inhabitants of the land - I will project you with violence from your country. I will send you all into captivity. This discourse, from Jer 10:17, is supposed to have been delivered in the eleventh year of Jehoiakim.”

Jeremiah 10:18

“The fortress - The inhabitants of Jerusalem, the chief place of security in Judea. Sing out - It denotes with how much violence and ease the Chaldeans shall hurry away the people into Babylon. And therefore it is said at this once, I will make one thorough quick work of it.”

Jeremiah 10:19

“The lamentation of the daughter of Zion, the Jewish Church, at the devastation of the land, and her humble prayer to God for mercy. Jer 10:19 Grievous - Rather, “mortal,” i. e., fatal, incurable. A grief - Or, “my grief.” Jer 10:20 tabernacle - i. e., “tent.” Jerusalem laments that her tent is plundered and her children carried into exile, and so “are not,” are dead Mat 2:18, either absolutely, or dead to her in the remote land of their captivity.”

Jeremiah 10:19

“Judea bewails its calamity. wound--the stroke I suffer under. I must bear--not humble submission to God's will (Mic 7:9), but sullen impenitence. Or, rather, it is prophetical of their ultimate acknowledgment of their guilt as the cause of their calamity (La 3:39).”

Jeremiah 10:21

“For the pastors are become brutish,.... The "kings" of Judah, so the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, as Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; though it need not be restrained to these only, but may include all inferior civil magistrates, and even all ecclesiastical rulers, who were the shepherds of the people; but these being like the brute beasts, and without understanding of civil and religious things, and not knowing how to govern the people either in a political or ecclesiastical way, were the cause of their ruin.”

Jeremiah 10:21

“The pastors are become brutish - The king and his counselors, who, by refusing to pay the promised tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, had kindled a new war.”

Jeremiah 10:21

“But it is sad indeed with a people when their pastors, that should feed them with knowledge and understanding, are themselves thus brutish. Therefore they shall not prosper; none of their attempts for the public safety shall succeed. Note, Those cannot expect to prosper who do not by faith and prayer take God along with them in all their ways.”

Jeremiah 10:22

“The noise of the bruit is come - How this silly French word bruit, which signifies noise, got in here, I cannot imagine. The simple translation is this: “The voice of the report! behold, it is come; yea, great commotion from the land of the north; (Chaldea); to make the cities of Judea a desolation, a habitation of wild beasts.” That is, the report we had heard of the projected invasion of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar is confirmed. He has entered the land; the Chaldeans are at the doors, and the total desolation of Judea is their sole object.”

Jeremiah 10:22

“It now proves too true: A great commotion arises out of the north country, which threatens to make all the cities of Judah desolate and a den of dragons; for they must all expect to be sacrificed to the avarice and fury of the Chaldean army. And what else can that place expect but to be made a den of dragons which has by sin made itself a den of thieves?”

Jeremiah 10:23

“I know, O Jehovah, that the march of the Babylonian conqueror against me (Jeremiah identifying himself with his people) is not at his own discretion, but is overruled by Thee (Isa 10:5-7; compare Jer 10:19). that walketh--when he walketh, that is, sets out in any undertaking. direct . . . steps--to give a prosperous issue to (Ps 73:23).”

Jeremiah 10:24

“Correct me - Seeing thou wilt punish us, let it be a correction only, not a destruction. Let it be in measure; in the midst of judgment remember mercy.”

Jeremiah 10:25

“Pour out thy fury upon the heathen - Even those who are now the executors of thy justice upon us will, in their turn, feel its scourge; for if judgment begins at us, who have been called thy house and thy people, shall they who have not acknowledged thee escape? It is impossible. The families and tribes which invoke thee not shall have thy fury poured out upon them, and especially they who “have eaten up Jacob and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.” This was fulfilled in the Chaldeans.”