Keluaran 20:4

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ¹  or any likeness ²  of anything ³  that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. ⁴ 

Mazmur 115:4

115:4 Their ⁵  idols are made of silver and gold –

they are man-made. ⁶ 

Yesaya 37:19

37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, ⁷  for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. ⁸ 

Yesaya 42:17

42:17 Those who trust in idols

will turn back and be utterly humiliated, ⁹ 

those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”

Yeremia 2:8

2:8 Your priests ¹⁰  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ¹¹ 

Those responsible for teaching my law ¹²  did not really know me. ¹³ 

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ¹⁴ 

They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 2:28

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ¹⁶  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

[20:4]  ¹ tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.

[20:4]  ² tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).

[20:4]  ³ tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[115:4]  ⁵ tn The referent of the pronominal suffix is “the nations” (v. 2).

[115:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”

[37:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”

[37:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).

[42:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “be ashamed with shame”; ASV, NASB “be utterly put to shame.”

[2:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”

[2:8]  ¹¹ sn See the study note on 2:6.

[2:8]  ¹² tn Heb “those who handle my law.”

[2:8]  sn The reference is likely to the priests and Levites who were responsible for teaching the law (so Jer 18:18; cf. Deut 33:10). According to Jer 8:8 it could possibly refer to the scribes who copied the law.

[2:8]  ¹³ tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.

[2:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “by Baal.”

[2:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).

[2:28]  ¹⁶ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.