Jeremiah 10:5
in Jeremiah 10Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.
KJV
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
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This verse in Jeremiah 10
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
O house of Israel
on Jeremiah 10:1-5
The oracle opens by addressing the house of Israel directly, warning them not to learn the way of the heathen or dread the signs of heaven the nations fear. What follows is the fullest anatomy in the book of how an idol is made, a tree cut from the forest, shaped by the axe, decked with silver and gold, fastened down with nails so it cannot totter. The bench's own restraint matches the caution this passage needs: it describes carving and plating an ancient cult image for worship, and the older commentators read it strictly against that practice rather than any wider application some later readers have drawn from it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(v. 5.) They are made in the likeness of a palm tree and do not speak: they are carried and brought, because they cannot walk. Therefore, do not fear them, because they cannot do evil, nor can they do good. They are made to resemble a palm tree, adorned with the beauty of metals and the art of painting: but they do not possess utility, by which they provide any benefits to the craftsman. And they cannot speak. For they have no life within them.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They are upright as the palm tree,....
If you think to mend the matter by mending the materials of which the idol is made, you deceive yourselves. Idols of gold and silver are an unworthy to be worshipped as wooden gods. The stock is a doctrine of vanities,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
upright--or, "They are of turned work, resembling a palm tree" [MAURER]. The point of comparison between the idol and the palm is in the pillar-like uprightness of the latter, it having no branches except at the top. speak not-- (Ps 115:5). cannot go--that is, walk (Ps 115:7;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
They are upright as the palm tree - As straight and as stiff as the trees out of which they are hewn.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּתֹ֨מֶר | ketomer | [are] like a scarecrow of | H8560 → | |
| מִקְשָׁ֥ה | mikshah | a cucumber field | H4750 → | |
| הֵ֙מָּה֙ | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְדַבֵּ֔רוּ | yedaberu | they speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| נָשׂ֥וֹא | naso' | certainly <to carry> | H5375 → | 656 times |
| יִנָּשׂ֖וּא | yinasu' | they are carried | H5375 → | 656 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִצְעָ֑דוּ | yitzadu | they walk | H6805 → | |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּֽירְא֤וּ | tireu | you be afraid | H3372 → | 315 times |
| מֵהֶם֙ | mehem | from <the> them | ||
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָרֵ֔עוּ | yareu | they do harm | H7489 → | 107 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הֵיטֵ֖יב | heiteiv | [is] doing good | H3190 → | 117 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| אוֹתָֽם׃ ס | ʾotam | with them | H854 → | 929 times |
כְּתֹ֨מֶר[are] like a scarecrow of
ketomerH8560 →
מִקְשָׁ֥הa cucumber field
mikshahH4750 →
הֵ֙מָּה֙they
hemahH1992 →553 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יְדַבֵּ֔רוּthey speak
yedaberuH1696 →1141 times
נָשׂ֥וֹאcertainly <to carry>
naso'H5375 →656 times
יִנָּשׂ֖וּאthey are carried
yinasu'H5375 →656 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִצְעָ֑דוּthey walk
yitzaduH6805 →
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּֽירְא֤וּyou be afraid
tireuH3372 →315 times
מֵהֶם֙from <the> them
mehem
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָרֵ֔עוּthey do harm
yareuH7489 →107 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
הֵיטֵ֖יב[is] doing good
heiteivH3190 →117 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
אוֹתָֽם׃ סwith them
ʾotamH854 →929 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
1 Corinthians 12:2You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:3
For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9
For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
- Psalms 115:5
They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
- Galatians 4:8
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
- Ephesians 2:11–12
Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
- 1 Peter 4:3
Through
Isaiah 46:7They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not…
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:20
Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.
- 1 Samuel 5:3
When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
- Isaiah 46:1
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
- Isaiah 45:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.