Jer 10:2
10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the nations, and
     be not dismayed at the {a} signs of heaven; for the nations
     are dismayed at them.

     (a) God forbids his people to give credit or fear the
         constellations and conjunctions of stars and planets
         which have no power of themselves but are governed by
         him, and their secret motions and influences are not
         known to man and therefore there can be no certain
         judgment of it, @De 18:9.

Jer 10:3
10:3 For the {b} customs of the people [are] vain: for [one]
     cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of
     the workman, with the axe.

     (b) Meaning not only in the observation of the stars, but
         their laws and ceremonies by which they confirm their
         idolatry, which is forbidden, @De 12:30.

Jer 10:4
10:4 They deck it {c} with silver and with gold; they fasten it
     with nails and with hammers, that it may not move.

     (c) The prophets use thus plainly and simply to set forth
         the vile absurdity of the idolaters that men might
         learn to be ashamed of that to which their corrupt
         nature is most subject, @Isa 44:12.

Jer 10:6
10:6 Forasmuch as [there is] none like thee, O LORD; {d} thou
     [art] great, and thy name [is] great in might.

     (d) He teaches the people to lift up their eyes to God, who
         has all power and therefore ought only to be feared:
         and in this he shows them not only the evil that they
         ought to hate: but the good which they ought to follow,
         @Re 15:4.

Jer 10:8
10:8 But they are altogether senseless and foolish: the stock
     [is] a {e} doctrine of vanities.

     (e) Because the people thought that to have images was a
         means to serve God, and to bring them to the knowledge
         of him, he shows that nothing more displeases God, nor
         brings man into greater errors and ignorance of God:
         and therefore he calls them the doctrine of vanity, the
         work of errors, @Jer 10:15. @Jer 10:15 calls
         them the teachers of lies: contrary to that wicked
         opinion, that they are the books of the lay people.

Jer 10:9
10:9 Silver beaten into plates is brought from Tarshish, and
     gold {f} from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman, and of the
     hands of the goldsmith: blue and purple [is] their
     clothing: they [are] all the work of skilful [men].

     (f) Where they found the best gold; showing that they
         thought nothing too dear for their idols, some read
         Ophir as in @1Ki 9:28.

Jer 10:11
10:11 Thus shall ye say to them, The gods {g} that have not made
      the heavens and the earth, [even] they shall perish from
      the earth, and from under these heavens.

      (g) This declares that all that has been spoken of idols
          in this chapter, was to arm the Jews when they would
          be in Chaldea among the idolaters, and now with one
          sentence he instructs them both how to protest their
          own religion against the idolaters and how to answer
          them to their shame who would exhort them to idolatry,
          and therefore he writes this sentence in the Chaldean
          tongue for a memorial while all the rest of his
          writing is in Hebrew.

Jer 10:14
10:14 Every man is {h} senseless in [his] knowledge: every
      goldsmith is confounded by the graven image: for his
      molten image [is] falsehood, and [there is] no breath in
      them.

      (h) The more man thinks to do anything well by his own
          wisdom, and not as God instructs him, the more he
          proves himself to be a vile beast.

Jer 10:16
10:16 The {i} portion of Jacob [is] not like them: for he [is]
      the former of all [things]; and Israel [is] the rod of his
      inheritance: The LORD of hosts [is] his name.

      (i) By these words, portion and rod, he signifies their
          inheritance, meaning that God would be all sufficient
          for them: and that their happiness consisted in him
          alone, and therefore they ought to renounce all other
          help and comfort as of idols, etc.
          @De 32:9, Ps 16:5.

Jer 10:17
10:17 {k} Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of
      the fortress.

      (k) The prophet wills the Jews to prepare themselves for
          this captivity, showing that it was now at hand that
          they would feel the things of which he had told them.

Jer 10:19
10:19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said,
      Truly this {l} [is] a grief, and I must bear it.

      (l) It is my just plague, and therefore I will take it
          patiently: by which he teaches the people how to
          behave themselves toward God.

Jer 10:20
10:20 {m} My tabernacle is laid waste, and all my cords are
      broken: my children are gone from me, and they [are] not:
      [there is] none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to
      set up my curtains.

      (m) He shows how Jerusalem will lament.

Jer 10:21
10:21 For the shepherds {n} have become senseless, and have not
      sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all
      their flocks shall be scattered.

      (n) The governors and ministers.

Jer 10:22
10:22 Behold, the sound of a rumour is come, and a great
      commotion from the {o} north country, to make the cities
      of Judah desolate, [and] a den of dragons.

      (o) Read @Jer 4:15.

Jer 10:23
10:23 O LORD, I know that {p} the way of man [is] not in
      himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his
      steps.

      (p) He speaks this because Nebuchadnezzar purposed to have
          made war against the Moabites and Ammonites, but
          hearing of Zedekiah's rebellion he turned his power to
          go against Jerusalem, @Eze 21:21 therefore the
          prophet says that this was the Lord's direction.

Jer 10:24
10:24 O LORD, correct me, but with {q} judgment; not in thy
      anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

      (q) Considering that God had revealed to him the certainty
          of their captivity @Jer 7:16 he only prays that
          he would punish them with mercy which Isaiah calls in
          measure, @Isa 27:8 measuring his rods by their
          infirmity @1Co 10:13 for here by judgment is
          meant not only the punishment but also the merciful
          moderation of the same as in @Jer 30:11.

Jer 10:25
10:25 Pour out {r} thy fury upon the nations that know thee not,
      and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they
      have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him,
      and have made his habitation desolate.

      (r) As God cannot only be known and glorified by his
          mercy that he uses toward his Church, but also by his
          justice in punishing his enemies, he prays that this
          glory may fully appear both in the one and the other,
          @Ps 79:6.



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