Jeremiah 10:8
But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
BSB
ASV
But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock.
KJV
But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
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?
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).
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Jeremiah 10:14Every 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.
leads to
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
They 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…
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.
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
Through
Zechariah 10:2For 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.
leads to
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.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Through
Isaiah 41:29See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
leads to
The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
