Discovery BoxJeremiah 10:14 
Context10:14 All these idolaters 1 will prove to be stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.
For the image he forges is merely a sham. 2
There is no breath in any of those idols. 3
Jeremiah 10:21
Context10:21 For our leaders 4 are stupid.
They have not sought the Lord’s advice. 5
So they do not act wisely,
and the people they are responsible for 6 have all been scattered.
1 tn Heb “Every man.” But in the context this is not a reference to all people without exception but to all idolaters. The referent is made explicit for the sake of clarity.
2 tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”
3 tn Heb “There is no breath in them.” The referent is made explicit so that no one will mistakenly take it to refer to the idolaters or goldsmiths.
4 tn Heb “the shepherds.”
5 tn Heb “They have not sought the
sn The idiom translated sought the
6 tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”
sn This verse uses the figure of rulers as shepherds and the people they ruled as sheep. It is a common figure in the Bible. See Ezek 34 for an extended development of this metaphor.
