Jeremiah 10:12
in Jeremiah 10The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens.
KJV
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
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This verse in Jeremiah 10
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Verse 12.) The one who made the earth in his strength, who established the world in his wisdom, and who stretched out the heavens in his understanding. He who makes the earth by His power, He is God the Father. But He also makes by His power the Lord the Savior. For Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). He Himself is both wisdom and the one by whom the heavens are stretched out.
This site's exposition
he hath established the world by his wisdom
on Jeremiah 10:12-13
The doxology continues in creation's own language, the earth made by power, the world established by wisdom, the heavens stretched out by discretion, three verbs across three faculties that Gill reads as a deliberate structure. Verse 13 turns from making to governing, the multitude of waters in the heavens, the vapours raised, the lightnings and rain and wind kept in store, ordinary weather described as an office only the true God holds. The argument runs from what only God can do to who God must be.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
on 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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
So shall you say to them This is a letter that Jeremiah sent to Jeconiah and those exiled with him in exile, to reply to the Chaldees in Aramaic, a reply if they tell them to worship idols.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
At the sound of His giving At the time the sound comes that He is giving a multitude of water in the heavens.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֹשֵׂ֥ה | ʾoseh | [he] made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶ֙רֶץ֙ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בְּכֹח֔וֹ | bekhocho | by power his | H3581 → | 126 times |
| מֵכִ֥ין | mekhin | [he] established | H3559 → | 217 times |
| תֵּבֵ֖ל | tevel | [the] world | H8398 → | |
| בְּחָכְמָת֑וֹ | bechakhemato | by wisdom his | H2451 → | 153 times |
| וּבִתְבוּנָת֖וֹ | uvitvunato | and by understanding his | H8394 → | |
| נָטָ֥ה | natah | he stretched out | H5186 → | 214 times |
| שָׁמָֽיִם׃ | shamayim | [the] heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
עֹשֵׂ֥ה[he] made
ʾosehH6213 →2628 times
אֶ֙רֶץ֙[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
בְּכֹח֔וֹby power his
bekhochoH3581 →126 times
מֵכִ֥ין[he] established
mekhinH3559 →217 times
תֵּבֵ֖ל[the] world
tevelH8398 →
בְּחָכְמָת֑וֹby wisdom his
bechakhematoH2451 →153 times
וּבִתְבוּנָת֖וֹand by understanding his
uvitvunatoH8394 →
נָטָ֥הhe stretched out
natahH5186 →214 times
שָׁמָֽיִם׃[the] heavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
it leads to
- John 1:1–3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
- Isaiah 45:18
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be…
- Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”
- Hebrews 1:10
And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
- John 1:1–3
Through
Colossians 1:16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
it leads to
- Romans 11:36
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
- John 1:3
Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
- Romans 11:36
Where this verse is studied
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Also on Jeremiah 10: 1 study that walk through this chapter ▾
The subjects this verse belongs to
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.