Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Bible Commentaries
Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible Barnes' Notes
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
These files are public domain.
Bibliographical Information
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Jeremiah 10". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/jeremiah-10.html. 1870.
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Jeremiah 10". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://studylight.org/
Whole Bible (38)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (3)
Verse 2
Signs of heaven - Extraordinary appearances, such as eclipses, comets, and the like, which seemed to the pagan to portend national calamities. To attribute importance to them is to walk in pagan ways.
Verse 3
The customs - Better, as the marg, âthe ordinances,â established institutions, âof the peoples, i. e.â pagan nations.
Verse 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 âmore, i. e.â tumble down.
The agreement in this and the following verses with the argument in Isa. 40â44 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 Jeremiahâs time, and were not therefore written at the close of the Babylonian exile. This passage then is a crucial one to the pseudo-Isaiah theory. Two answers are attempted,
(1) that the pseudo-Isaiah borrowed from Jeremiah. But this is refuted by the style, which is not that usual with Jeremiah.
(2) that it is an interpolation in Jeremiah.
But how then are we to account for its being found in the Septuagint Version? The only argument of real importance is that these verses break the continuity of thought; but the whole chapter is somewhat fragmentary, and not so closely connected as the previous three. Still there is a connection. The prophet had just included all Israel under the ban of uncircumcision: he now shows them their last chance of safety by enlarging upon the truth, that (compare Jeremiah 9:23-24) their true glory is their God, not an idol of wood, but the King of nations. Then comes the sad feeling that they have rejected God and chosen idols Jeremiah 10:17-18; then the nationâs deep grief Jeremiah 10:19-22 and earnest prayer Jeremiah 10:23-25. It is quite possible that only portions of the concluding part of Jeremiahâs templesermon were embodied in Baruchâs scroll, and that had the whole been preserved, we should have found the thoughts as orderly in development as those in Jer. 7â9.
Verse 5
They are upright ... - Rather, âThey are like a palm tree of turned work, i. e.â like one of those stiff inelegant pillars, something like a palm tree, which may be seen in oriental architecture. Some translate thus: âThey are like pillarâs in a garden of cucumbers, i. e.â like the blocks set up to frighten away the birds; but none of the ancient versions support this rendering.
Verse 6
For as much as - Or, âNo one is like unto thee, O Jehovah.â In Jeremiah 10:6-11, the prophet contrasts Godâs greatness with the impotence of idols.
Verse 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 Psalms 22:28.
It - i. e., everything.
In all their kingdoms - More correctly, âin all their royalty or kingship.â
Verse 8
Brutish - Jeremiah 10:21 and foolish Theirs was the brutishness of men in a savage state, little better than mere animals: their folly that of stupidity.
The stock ... - Rather, the instruction of idols is a piece of wood. That is what they are themselves, and âex nihilo nihil fitâ (from nothingness, nothing is made).
Verse 9
Or, âIt is a piece of wood (Jeremiah 10:8 note); yea, beaten silver it is, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz: it is the work etc.â
Tarshish ... Uphaz - See the marginal reference and Genesis 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.
Verse 11
This verse is (in the original) in Chaldee. It was probably a proverbial saying, which Jeremiah inserts in its popular form.
Verse 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 âpower;â the âestablishing,â i. e., the ordering and arranging it as a place fit for manâs abode, is the work of his âwisdom;â while the spreading out the heavens over it like a tent is an act of âunderstanding,â or skill. Naturally, the consideration of these attributes has led many to see here an allusion to the Holy Trinity.
Verse 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 Psalms 135:7.
Verse 14
In his knowledge - Rather, âwithout knowledge; i. e., on comparing his powerless idols with the terrific grandeur of a tropical thunderstorm the man who can still worship them instead of the Creator is destitute of knowledge.
Every founder ... - Or, âevery goldsmith is put to shame etc.â He has exhausted his skill on what remains an image.
Verse 15
Rather, âThey are vanity, a work of mockery,â deserving only ridicule and contempt.
Verse 16
The portion, of Jacob - i. e., Yahweh. He is not like gods made by a carpenter and goldsmith.
Of all things - literally, of the all, the universe.
The rod of his inheritance - See Psalms 74:2; compare Isaiah 63:17. The rod is the scepter, and Israel the people over whom Yahweh especially rules.
Verse 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.
Verse 18
Sling out - A similar metaphor for violent ejection occurs in Isaiah 22:18 (see the note).
At this once - Or, âat this time.â Previous invasions had ended either in deliverance, or at most in temporary misfortune. Godâs long-suffering is exhausted, and this time Judaea must cease to be an independent nation.
That they may find it so - Omit âso,â and explain either
(1) âI will distress themâ with the rigors of a siege âthat they may feel it, i. e., the distress; or,
(2) âthat they may findâ Me, God, that which alone is worth finding.
Verses 19-25
The lamentation of the daughter of Zion, the Jewish Church, at the devastation of the land, and her humble prayer to God for mercy.
Jeremiah 10:19
Grievous - Rather, âmortal,â i. e., fatal, incurable.
A grief - Or, âmy grief.â
Jeremiah 10:20
tabernacle - i. e., âtent.â Jerusalem laments that her tent is plundered and her children carried into exile, and so âare not,â are dead Matthew 2:18, either absolutely, or dead to her in the remote land of their captivity. They can aid the widowed mother no longer in pitching her tent, or in hanging up the curtains round about it.
Jeremiah 10:21
Therefore they shall not prosper - Rather, âtherefore they have not governed wisely.â âThe pastors,â i. e., the kings and rulers Jeremiah 2:8, having sunk to the condition of barbarous and untutored men, could not govern wisely.
Jeremiah 10:22
The âgreat commotionâ is the confused noise of the army on its march (see Jeremiah 8:16).
Dragons - i. e., jackals; see the marginal reference.
Jeremiah 10:23
At the rumour of the enemyâs approach Jeremiah utters in the name of the nation a supplication appropriate to men overtaken by the divine justice.
Jeremiah 10:24
With judgment - In Jeremiah 30:11; Jeremiah 46:28, the word âjudgmentâ (with a different preposition) is rendered âin measure.â The contrast therefore is between punishment inflicted in anger, and that inflicted as a duty of justice, of which the object is the criminalâs reformation. Jeremiah prays that God would punish Jacob so far only as would bring him to true repentance, but that he would pour forth his anger upon the pagan, as upon that which opposes itself to God Jeremiah 10:25.