Jeremiah 16:20

Jeremiah 16:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
• New International Version (NIV)Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!"
• New King James Version (NKJV)Will a man make gods for himself, Which are not gods?

Context of Jeremiah 16:20

18I will punish them for their sins. I will make them pay twice for the wrong things that they have done. That is because they have spoiled my land. They have made it unclean with their disgusting idols that have no life. They have filled my special land with the evil things that they have done.’ 19Lord, you give me strength. You are the safe place where I can hide. When I am in trouble, I can run to you and be safe. People will come from nations all over the earth, to give you honour. They will say, ‘Our ancestors worshipped false gods. Those gods were useless and they could not help us. Can people make gods for themselves? If they make them, they are not really gods.’ 21‘So I, the Lord, will teach these people about my great power. Then they will understand that I am the Lord, the true God.’

Jeremiah 16:20 word by word

הֲיַעֲשֶׂה־לּ֥וֹ אָדָ֖ם אֱלֹהִ֑ים וְהֵ֖מָּה לֹ֥א אֱלֹהִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Shall a manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Jeremiah 16:20

• Psalms 115:4Those people's idols are made from silver and gold. Yes, human hands make them!
• Psalms 135:14The Lord shows that his people are right. He is kind to those who serve him.
• Isaiah 36:19The gods of Hamath and Arpad could not help their people. The gods of Sepharvaim could not help their people either. No god was able to rescue Samaria from my power.
• Isaiah 37:19They threw the gods of these nations into the fire. Those idols are not really gods. People used wood and stone to make them. So the Assyrians could destroy them.
• Hosea 8:4My people chose kings to rule them, but they did not ask me about it. They chose people to lead them, but I did not agree. They used their silver and their gold to make idols for themselves. But that will destroy them in the end.
• Acts 19:26Also, you can see what this man Paul is doing. You have heard his message. Many people here in Ephesus, and in nearly all the places in Asia region, believe what he says. Paul teaches people this: “Anything that men have made is not really a god.”
• Galatians 1:8Nobody should ever teach a message that is different from the good news that we taught you. Neither we ourselves, nor even an angel from heaven, should ever teach a different message. If anyone does that, I pray that God would curse him.
• Galatians 4:8Before, when you did not know God, you served false gods. They were not gods at all, but you were their slaves.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 16:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Shall a man make gods unto himself? - Can any be so silly, and so preposterously absurd? Yes, fallen man is capable of any thing that is base, mean, vile, and wicked, till influenced and converted by the grace of Christ.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 The restoration from the Babylonish captivity would be remembered in place of the deliverance from Egypt; it also typified spiritual redemption, and the future deliverance of the church from antichristian oppression. But none of the sins of sinners can be hidden from God, or shall be overlooked by him. He will find out and raise up instruments of his wrath, that shall destroy the Jews, by fraud like fishers, by force like hunters. The…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-20Jeremiah worshiped the Lord for protecting him during difficult times and providing salvation to people worldwide.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 19-2019-20. The result of God's judgments on the Jews will be that both the Jews when restored, and the Gentiles who have witnessed those judgments, shall renounce idolatry for the worship of Jehovah. Fulfilled partly at the return from Babylon, after which the Jews entirely renounced idols, and many proselytes were gathered in from the Gentiles, but not to be realized in its fulness till the final restoration of Israel (Is 2:1-17).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 16:20

• Church
• Gentiles
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Eschatology of the Old Testament
• Gods
• save, saved, safe, salvation, rescue

Commentaries on Jeremiah 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings