Jeremiah 10:1-16

Jeremiah 10:1-16. The folly of idolatry

It is now generally recognised that this passage is a later insertion, for (a) it breaks the connexion between Jeremiah 9:1-22 and Jeremiah 10:17 ff.; while by its omission the train of thought in the former is carried on smoothly in the latter; (b) elsewhere the people have been rebuked for being already devoted to idolatry (Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 7:31), but here they are addressed as sincere and convinced worshippers of Jehovah, and are warned against imagining that idols are possessed of any real power, a warning which would be well adapted to the circumstances of the exiles in Babylon, surrounded as they were with its elaborate idol worship; (c) elsewhere Jeremiah's argument is, "Expect no help from vain gods; they cannot saveyou" (Jeremiah 2:28; Jeremiah 11:12); here the argument is, "Do not fear them, they cannot harmyou." See LOT. p. 254. This does not indeed preclude the possibility that the passage is one which the prophet himself addressed at a later date to his brethren in captivity, and in fact it contains certain of his expressions, viz. vain, vanity, as applied to idols (Jeremiah 10:3; Jeremiah 10:15), in the time of their visitation(Jeremiah 10:15). But the style generally is not that of Jeremiah, and resembles that of the second Isaiah (chs. 40 66), so that it may at any rate be attributed to that period. The MT. is an expansion of the original form of the Hebrew. This is shewn both by the superiority in logical sequence exhibited on the whole (but see on Jeremiah 10:10) by the text of the LXX in the way of omission as well as change of order (see on Jeremiah 10:5; Jeremiah 10:10), and by the smoothness of metre which results from the adoption of the Greek form of text. Co. points out that we then have from Jeremiah 10:2 onwards a series of clauses arranged in triplets, presenting a clear and well articulated connexion of thought. So too Gi. (in Jeremias Metrik) with slight differences in detail. Du. shortens the passage still further. We may add that Baruch, ch. 6 (The Epistle of Jeremy) is partly an amplification of this passage by one who was very familiar with particulars of the idolatry as practised at Babylon.

The passage may be summarized thus. (i) Jeremiah 10:1. Be not led away by heathen beliefs. The phenomena seen in the sky have no element of divinity about them. The gods are nothing beyond the materials put together by workmen. They are speechless, and incapable of movement. They are powerless both for good and for harm. (ii) Jeremiah 10:6. Jehovah is not as these. He is the supreme God, Creator of the heavens and of the world, and Wielder of the powers of nature. The peoples of the earth may well tremble before Him, who has created all things and has chosen Israel for His own.