Jeremiah 10:9

Lexham English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹ Hear the word that Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel. ² Thus says Yahweh: "You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them. ³ For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, for it is a tree cut down from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with the tool. ⁴ He decorates it with silver and gold, they strengthen it with nails and hammers, so that it does not stagger. ⁵ They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, they cannot speak. Indeed, they must be carried, for they cannot march. You must not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil; furthermore, to do good is not in them." ⁶ There is none like you, O Yahweh, you are great and your name is great in might. ⁷ Who would not revere you, O king of the nations? For you it is fitting. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like you. ⁸ At the same time they are stupid and foolish, in the instruction of idols, it is wood. ⁹ Silver beaten from Tarshish is brought, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and the hands of the goldsmith. Blue and purple are their clothing, all of them are the work of skillful people. ¹⁰ But Yahweh is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king. Because of his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his anger.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Silver: Jeremiah 10:4

Tarshish: 1 Kings 10:22, Ezekiel 27:12

Uphaz: Daniel 10:5

are all: Psalms 115:4

Reciprocal: Exodus 20:4 - General Exodus 32:3 - General Deuteronomy 4:28 - neither see Judges 8:26 - purple Judges 17:4 - two hundred 2 Chronicles 32:19 - the work Isaiah 40:19 - General Isaiah 41:7 - the carpenter Isaiah 46:6 - lavish Jeremiah 1:16 - worshipped Ezekiel 27:7 - blue and purple Daniel 3:1 - made Habakkuk 2:19 - it is Revelation 9:20 - and idols

Cross-References

Genesis 6:4
The Nephilim were upon the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God went into the daughters of humankind, and they bore children to them.

Genesis 6:11
And the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Genesis 13:13
Now the men of Sodom were extremely wicked sinners against Yahweh.

Genesis 25:27
And the boys grew up. And Esau was a skilled hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.

Genesis 27:30
And as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, immediately after Jacob had gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came back from his hunting.

2 Chronicles 28:22
And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh.

Psalms 52:7
"Look, the man who would not make God his refuge, but he trusted in the greatness of his wealth; he took refuge in his destructiveness."

Jeremiah 16:16
Look, I am sending for many fishermen,' declares Yahweh, ‘and they will fish them out, and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and from the clefts of the cliffs.

Ezekiel 13:18
And you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe to those who sew magic charm bands on all the wrists of the hands of my people and those who make the veils that are on the head of people of every height, to ensnare people's lives! Will you ensnare the lives of my people and keep yourselves alive?

Micah 7:2
The faithful person has perished from the land, and there is none who is upright among humankind. All of them lie in wait; each hunts his brother with a net.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish,.... In Cilicia, where the Apostle Paul was born; according to Josephus, as Jerom says, it was a country in India. The Targum renders it, from Africa, and calls it silver "rolled up", or "covered"; so the Vulgate Latin; such was beaten with a hammer into plates, and might be rolled up for better convenience of shipment; and with which they covered and decked their idols, to make them look glittering and pompous, and command some awe and reverence from the common people. The Arabic version renders it, "solid silver"; it being the same word from whence the firmament of heaven has its name, or the wide expanse; hence we render it "spread", stretched, and drawn out into plates. The Syriac version is, "the best silver"; as very likely that from Tarshish was reckoned.

And gold from Uphaz; called sometimes "the gold of Uphaz"; Daniel 10:5 or "Fess"; perhaps the same with the gold of Ophir, Job 28:16 and so the Targum here calls it, "gold from Ophir"; to which agrees the Syriac version; and was esteemed the best gold.

The work of workmen, and of the hands of the founder; melter or refiner, being first purified by him from dross, and then wrought into plates, and polished, and fitted for the idol; and all this being owing to the art and workmanship of men, shows the brutishness and ignorance of the people, in worshipping it as a god. Blue and purple is their clothing; not the clothing of the workmen, but of the idols; these colours seem to be chosen to dazzle the eyes of the populace, and cause them to entertain a high opinion of them; the "blue" being the colour of the heavens, and the "purple" what is wore by kings; and so both may denote their deity and dominion. But, alas!

they are all the work of cunning men: both the idols, and their clothing; especially the latter is meant, which were curiously wrought and embroidered by men skilful in that art.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Or, “It 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.”

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 10:9. Brought from Tarshish — Some suppose this to be Tartessus in Spain, from which the Phoenicians brought much silver. Uphaz, Calmet thinks to be the river Pison; some think Ophir is intended.

Blue and purple is their clothing — These were the most precious dyes; very rare, and of high price.