English Standard Version
Psalms 115:4
4Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
Psalms 115:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
- New International Version (NIV)But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.
Context of Psalms 115:4
2Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" 3Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.
Read all of Psalms 115Psalms 115:4 word by word
עֲֽ֭צַבֵּיהֶם כֶּ֣סֶף וְזָהָ֑ב מַ֝עֲשֵׂ֗ה יְדֵ֣י אָדָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 115:4
- Psalms 97:7All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!
- Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
- Deuteronomy 4:28And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
- Isaiah 40:19An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.
- Isaiah 42:17They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, "You are our gods."
- Isaiah 46:1Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts.
- Jeremiah 10:3for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
- Hosea 8:6For it is from Israel; a craftsman made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
- Habakkuk 2:18"What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!
- Acts 19:26And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.
- 1 Corinthians 10:19What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
Commentaries on Psalms 115:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Their idols are silver, etc. - They are metal, stone, and wood. They are generally made in the form of man, but can neither see, hear, smell, feel, walk, nor speak. How brutish to trust in such! And next to these, in stupidity and inanity, must they be who form them, with the expectation of deriving any good from them. So obviously vain was the whole system of idolatry, that the more serious heathens ridiculed it, and it was a butt for the jests of their…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Their idols - Their gods - the gods which they worship, as contrasted with the God whom we adore. The design of this description Psalm 115:4-8 is to show the utter vanity of trusting in such gods, and to lead the people of Israel to put their trust in the true God - in Yahweh. Are silver and gold - Made of silver and gold, and they must have, therefore, the properties of silver and gold. They can be of value only as silver and gold. They cannot do the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-11This entire section is repeated in Psalm 135:15–20. Unlike the Lord (Psalm 95:3–5), idols cannot do anything. They are useless.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-74-7. (Compare Is 40:18-20; 44:9-20).Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 115:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 115
- 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
- The Treasury of David
- 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries