Jeremiah 10:11

Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jeremiah issues a direct command to relay a message to a group addressed as "them," situated between declarations of Yahweh’s living sovereignty and His creative power. This moment frames the verse as a polemical contrast between the true God and foreign deities.

The words — The Aramaic relative pronoun דִּי (di) means "who," while the separate particles לָא (la) and verb עֲבַדוּ (avadu) translate literally as "not" and "they made." Together with the nouns שְׁמַיָּא (shemaiya) and אַרְקָא (arka) for "heavens" and "earth," they form the exact clause denying any creative act to the listed gods.

The thread — The contrast between false gods and the Creator appears in Psalms 96:5, which identifies national gods as idols and credits the LORD with making the heavens. Isaiah 2:18 and Jeremiah 10:15 extend the pattern by noting the eventual disappearance and worthlessness of these manufactured objects.

Why it lands — The text demands a precise verbal denial that any rival deity performed creation, followed by a factual statement of their eventual removal from the earth. The reader is asked to accept the declared limitation of idols as a given reality rather than a theological opinion.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כִּדְנָה֙ki/d.Nahlike/ this תֵּאמְר֣וּןtem.Runyou will sayלְה֔וֹםle./Homto <the>/ themאֱלָ֣הַיָּ֔א'e.La.hai.Ya/'gods/ the דִּֽי־di-who שְׁמַיָּ֥אshe.mai.Ya/'heavens/ the וְאַרְקָ֖אve./'ar.Ka/'and/ earth/ the לָ֣אla'not עֲבַ֑דוּ'a.Va.duthey made יֵאבַ֧דוּye.Va.dumay they perish מֵֽאַרְעָ֛אme./'ar.'A/'from/ earth/ the וּמִן־u./min-and/ from תְּח֥וֹתte.Chotunder שְׁמַיָּ֖אshe.mai.Ya/'heavens/ the אֵֽלֶּה׃ ס'E.lehthese

King James Version

Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

Cross-references

Psalms 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
Isaiah 2:18 and the idols will vanish completely.
Jeremiah 10:15 They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
Jeremiah 51:18 They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
Lamentations 3:66 You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them from under Your heavens, O LORD.
Zephaniah 2:11 The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.
Zechariah 13:2 And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.
Revelation 20:2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.