Discovery BoxJeremiah 5:4 
Context5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. 1
They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. 2
They do not know what their God requires of them. 3
Jeremiah 10:14
Context10:14 All these idolaters 4 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. 5
There is no breath in any of those idols. 6
Jeremiah 51:17
Context51:17 All idolaters 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.
There is no breath in any of those idols.
1 tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.
2 tn Heb “the way of the
3 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
4 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.
5 tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”
6 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.
