Passage

Jeremiah 10.5

Book: Jeremiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. 4. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

"5. They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good."

"6. There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. 7. Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like unto thee." (Jeremiah 10:3-7, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax. 4. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move."

"5. They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don’t speak: they must be carried, because they can’t move. Don’t be afraid of them; for they can’t do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”"

"6. There is no one like you, Yahweh. you are great, and your name is great in might. 7. Who should not fear you, King of the nations? For it belongs to you. Because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is no one like you." (Jeremiah 10:3-7, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. For the 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. ^{customs: Heb. statutes, or, ordinances are vanity} 4. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

"5. 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."

"6. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. 7. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. ^{to: or, it liketh thee}" (Jeremiah 10:3-7, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, For a tree from a forest hath one cut, Work of the hands of an artificer, with an axe, 4. With silver and with gold they beautify it, With nails and with hammers they fix it, And it doth not stumble."

"5. As a palm they [are] stiff, and they speak not, They are surely borne, for they step not, Be not afraid of them, for they do no evil, Yea, also to do good is not in them."

"6. Because there is none like Thee, O Jehovah, Great [art] Thou, and great Thy name in might. 7. Who doth not fear Thee, king of the nations? For to Thee it is becoming, For among all the wise of the nations, And in all their kingdom there is none like Thee." (Jeremiah 10:3-7, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

G2198 - zao

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.