Zechariah 10:2

Zechariah 10:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
• New International Version (NIV)The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the idols speak delusion; The diviners envision lies, And tell false dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.

Context of Zechariah 10:2

1Ask the Lord for rain in spring. It is the Lord who makes the clouds and the storms. He gives the rain to men. He gives the plants of the field to everyone. People ask idols for help, but the idols do not speak true words. Some people explain what a dream means. But they do not speak true words. The help that they give is not good. So the people move from place to place like sheep. They are not safe. They have no leaders. 3‘I am angry with the leaders. I will cause them to be sorry. Judah's people are mine,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘I will watch over them. I will make them as strong as horses that are ready for war. 4From Judah's descendants will come a strong leader. He is like a strong stone at the corner of a building. He is like a strong peg in a wall. He is like a bow that is ready to shoot arrows. Every strong ruler will come from Judah's descendants.

Zechariah 10:2 word by word

כִּ֧י הַתְּרָפִ֣ים דִּבְּרוּ־אָ֗וֶן וְהַקּֽוֹסְמִים֙ חָ֣זוּ שֶׁ֔קֶר וַֽחֲלֹמוֹת֙ הַשָּׁ֣וא יְדַבֵּ֔רוּ הֶ֖בֶל יְנַֽחֵמ֑וּן עַל־כֵּן֙ נָסְע֣וּ כְמוֹ־צֹ֔אן יַעֲנ֖וּ כִּֽי־אֵ֥ין רֹעֶֽה׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For the idolsתְּרָפִיםterâphîym · teraphimH8655
• have spokenדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• vanityאָ֫וֶן'âven · evil: wickednessH205
• and the divinersקָסַםqâsam · to divineH7080
• have seenחָזָהchâzâh · to seeH2372
• a lieשֶׁ֫קֶרsheqer · deceptionH8267
• falseשָׁוְאshâv' shav · vanity: falseH7723
• dreamsחֲלוֹםchălôm chălôm · dreamH2472
• they comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• in vainהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• therefore they wentנָסַעnâsa‛ · to set outH5265
• their way as a flockצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
• they were troubledעָנָה‛ânâh · to afflictH6031
• no shepherdרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462

Cross-references for Zechariah 10:2

• Genesis 31:19Before they left, Laban had gone to cut the wool from his sheep. While he was away from the house, Rachel took the idols that Laban worshipped in his house.
• Judges 18:14The five men who had explored the land of Laish said to their relatives, ‘Do you know that in one of these houses there is an ephod, some small idols, an image and a metal idol. Think carefully and decide what to do.’
• Isaiah 44:9All the people who make idols are fools. The images which make them so happy are useless. Those who worship idols cannot see the truth. They do not understand what they are doing, and they will be ashamed.
• Isaiah 46:5You know that there is no God like me! You cannot say about any god, that he is the same as me.
• Jeremiah 10:8The people of those nations are stupid and foolish. They think that wooden idols can teach them something!
• Jeremiah 14:22The idols of other nations are useless. None of them can cause rain to fall. And the sky itself does not make rain. No, it is you, Lord, our God, who sends rain. You alone do all these things, so we trust you to help us.’
• Hosea 3:4In the same way, the Israelites will have to live for many days without a king or any other leader. They will not be able to make sacrifices. They will not have their pillars, their ephods or their idols to help them.
• Habakkuk 2:18What value does an idol have? What help can it give? Somebody has made it as the image of a false god. It can only tell false messages. Why should its maker trust it for help? He has used wood or metal to make it and it cannot speak!
• Jeremiah 23:25‘I have heard the lies that these prophets are saying. They say that they have messages from me. They say, “God has spoken to me in a dream!”
• Jeremiah 27:9So do not listen to your prophets, or to your diviners. Do not listen to people who use dreams or magic or the spirits of dead people to tell you what will happen. Those people tell you that you will not have to serve the king of Babylon.
• Jeremiah 29:8Yes, the Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, ‘Some of the prophets and the other people use magic to tell you what will happen in the future. Do not let them deceive you with their lies. Do not listen to the dreams that they tell you about.
• Lamentations 2:14Your prophets have promised you many good things. Those good things will not happen. They should have told you that you should not do wrong things. If they had told you that, none of these troubles would have happened. The prophets do not tell you true messages from God and their dreams are false.
• Ezekiel 13:6The visions that these prophets see are false. They tell lies about what will happen. They say, ‘The Lord says this,’ when I have not sent them with any message. But they still think that what they say will really happen.
• Ezekiel 21:29Their visions about the battle have deceived them. What they think will happen is only lies. The sword will punish wicked people with death. The time for their final punishment has now arrived.
• Micah 3:6Because of that, it will become like night for you. I will not show you my messages. You will no longer see what will happen in future times. The sun will go down over you prophets, and the day will become dark for you.
• Job 13:4What you say about me is only lies. You would be useless as doctors.

Commentaries on Zechariah 10:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The idols have spoken vanity - This is spoken of the Jews, and must refer to their idolatry practiced before the captivity, for there were no idols after. Therefore they went their way - They were like a flock that had no shepherd, shifting from place to place, and wandering about in the wilderness, seeking for pasture, wherever they might find it. Some think that the idols and diviners were those of the Seleucidae Greeks, who excited their masters with…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2For the teraphim have spoken vanity - Rather, “spake vanity.” He appeals to their former experience. Their father had sought of idols, not of God; therefore they went into captivity. The “teraphim” were used as instruments of divination. They are united with the “ephod,” as forbidden, over against the allowed, means of enquiry as to the future, in Hosea, “without an ephod and without teraphim” Hosea 3:4; they were united in the mingled worship of Micah…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2idols: This might refer to ancestor statues used in ceremonies to summon the spirits of the dead. Consulting with the dead was common in the ancient world, but God's law forbade it for the Hebrews (see Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10–11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. idols--literally, "the teraphim," the household gods, consulted in divination (see on Ho 3:4). Derived by Gesenius from an Arabic root, "comfort," indicating them as the givers of comfort. Or an Ethiopian root, "relics." Herein Zechariah shows that the Jews by their own idolatry had stayed the grace of God heretofore, which otherwise would have given them all those blessings, temporal and spiritual, which they are now (Zec 10:1) urged to "ask" for…Read the comment

Topics related to Zechariah 10:2

• Dream
• Idolatry
• Sorcery

In the dictionaries

• Magic
• Visit
• Bible, the
• Crime; Crimes
• Divination
• Images
• Magic; Magician
• Salvation
• Shepherd
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Zechariah 10

• 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