Bible Strands
Jeremiah 10:5
Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses Israel during a prophetic warning against idolatry, contrasting crafted statues with the living God.
The words — תֹמֶר (To.mer) = scarecrow and מִקְשָׁה (mik.Shah) = cucumber field.
The thread — The motif of mute, carried idols appears in Isaiah 46:7 and Psalm 115:5, while Paul later references pagan idolatry as leading to mute idols in 1 Corinthians 12:2.
Why it lands — The text commands the audience to reject fear toward man-made objects by declaring their complete inability to act, thereby redirecting trust exclusively to YHWH.
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
King James Version
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 46:7 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 answer; it saves no one from his troubles.
- 1 Corinthians 12:2 You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
- Psalms 115:5 They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
- Isaiah 41:23 Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay.
- Psalms 135:16 They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
- Isaiah 46:1 Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
- Habakkuk 2:19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
- 1 Corinthians 8:4 So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Revelation 13:14 Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.
- Isaiah 44:9 All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.