English Standard Version
Zechariah 10:2
2For 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.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Household gods give worthless advice, fortune-tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort. So my people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd.
Context of Zechariah 10:2
1Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring rain, from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field. 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. 3"My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle. 4From him shall come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler—all of them together.
Read all of Zechariah 10Zechariah 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 31:19Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods.
- Judges 18:14Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, "Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do."
- Isaiah 44:9All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.
- Isaiah 46:5"To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?
- Jeremiah 10:8They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!
- Jeremiah 14:22Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.
- Hosea 3:4For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.
- 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!
- Jeremiah 23:25I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!'
- Jeremiah 27:9So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon.'
- Jeremiah 29:8For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,
- Lamentations 2:14Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading.
- Ezekiel 13:6They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'Declares the Lord,' when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word.
- Ezekiel 21:29while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.
- Micah 3:6Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;
- Job 13:4As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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