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Jeremiah 10 has an out-of-place sentence praising God in the middle of rhetoric criticizing idols. The Greek Septuagint translation does not have this sentence, suggesting that the extra sentence was added in the Masoretic Hebrew tradition.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jeremiah 10:10
Hebrew Bible
9 Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish and gold is brought from Ufaz to cover those idols. They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths. They are clothed in blue and purple clothes. They are all made by skillful workers. 10 The Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When he shows his anger, the earth shakes. None of the nations can stand up to his fury. 11 You people of Israel should tell those nations this: ‘These gods did not make heaven and earth. They will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens.’
Date: 500–401 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Jeremiah 10:9
Septuagint
9 It is forged silver, they will not walk; silver plates beaten out shall come from Tarshish, gold from Uphaz, and the hand of goldsmiths; they are all the works of craftsmen: they will clothe them with blue and purple. 5 They must certainly be borne, for they cannot ride of themselves. Do not fear them; for they cannot do any evil, and there is no good in them. 10 11 Thus you will say to them, Let the gods which have not made heaven and earth perish from the earth, and from under this sky. 12 It is the Lord that made the earth by his strength, who set up the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the sky,
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The prophecy described in Jeremiah 10:1–11 in the Masoretic Text contains both mockery of idols and praise of the Lord. The text refers with disdain to the idols’ manmade origins and their inability to walk, speak, or do any harm or good. The mockery is included in verses 2–5, 8–9, 11, while the remaining verses 6–7 and 10 praise the Lord. The verses containing this praise are lacking in the Septuagint (LXX), as well as in the Qumran scroll 4QJerB. Many scholars believe that these shorter texts reflect the original form of Jeremiah 10, and that the tradition behind the Masoretic text reflects a later text in which the praise of the Lord has been added in order to stress the futility of the idols. The addition of these verses in the tradition of the Masoretic text went together with the splitting up of verse 5 into two parts. In the development of Scripture, usually elements were added, not deleted. Moreover, it is intrinsically more plausible that verses of praise were added than omitted ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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