Yeremia 10:5

10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.

They cannot talk.

They must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them

because they cannot hurt you.

And they do not have any power to help you.” ¹ 

Yeremia 38:4

38:4 So these officials said to the king, “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing ²  the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. ³  This ⁴  man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.” ⁵ 

[10:5]  ¹ tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”

[38:4]  ² tn Heb “weakening the hands of.” For this idiom see BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Pi. and compare the usage in Isa 13:7; Ezek 21:7 (21:12 HT).

[38:4]  ³ tn Heb “by saying these things.”

[38:4]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) has not been rendered here because it is introducing a parallel causal clause to the preceding one. To render “For” might be misunderstood as a grounds for the preceding statement. To render “And” or “Moreover” sounds a little odd here. If it must be represented, “Moreover” is perhaps the best rendering.

[38:4]  ⁵ tn Or “is not looking out for these people’s best interests but is really trying to do them harm”; Heb “is not seeking the welfare [or “well-being”; Hebrew shalom] of this people but [their] harm [more literally, evil].”