Bible Strands
Psalms 115:8
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Israel, contrasting the lifeless idols described in the preceding verse with the living God, immediately before commanding the nation to trust in the LORD instead.
The words — The Hebrew עֹשֵׂיהֶם ('osehem, "those who make them") and בּוֹטֵחַ (botēaḥ, "is trusting") frame a parallel declaration that both groups share the same fate. The verb יִהְיוּ (yihyū, "they will be") states this inevitable transformation without qualification.
The thread — The identical phrase appears in Psalms 135:18, while Jeremiah 10:8 and Habakkuk 2:18 extend the warning by condemning idol craftsmanship and the false confidence of their makers.
Why it lands — The text states that creating and relying on lifeless objects inevitably reshapes the creator and the truster into their image. Readers must therefore abandon manufactured substitutes and direct their confidence solely to the God who acts.
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 that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
Cross-references
- Psalms 135:18 Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- Jeremiah 10:8 But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
- Habakkuk 2:18 What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
- Jonah 2:8 Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.
- 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.