God’s Word Translation
Jeremiah 16:20
20“People can’t make gods for themselves. They aren’t really gods.
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
18First, I will have them pay twice as much for their wickedness and their sin, because they have polluted my land. They have filled my property with the lifeless statues of their detestable and disgusting idols.” 19The Lord is my strength and my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Nations come to you from the most distant parts of the world and say, “Our ancestors have inherited lies, worthless and unprofitable gods.” “People can’t make gods for themselves. They aren’t really gods. 21That is what I will teach them. This time I will make my power and my strength known to them. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.”
Read all of Jeremiah 16Jeremiah 16:20 word by word
הֲיַעֲשֶׂה־לּ֥וֹ אָדָ֖ם אֱלֹהִ֑ים וְהֵ֖מָּה לֹ֥א אֱלֹהִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 16:20
- Psalms 115:4Their idols are made of silver and gold. They were made by human hands.
- Psalms 135:14The Lord will provide justice for his people and have compassion on his servants.
- Isaiah 36:19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Did they rescue Samaria from my control?
- Isaiah 37:19They have thrown the gods from these countries into fires because these gods aren’t real gods. They’re only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them.
- Hosea 8:4“They chose their own kings, kings I didn’t approve. They chose their own princes, princes I didn’t know. They chose to make idols with their own silver and gold. Because of this, they will be destroyed.
- Acts 19:26and you see and hear what this man Paul has done. He has won over a large crowd that follows him not only in Ephesus but also throughout the province of Asia. He tells people that gods made by humans are not gods.
- Galatians 1:8Whoever tells you good news that is different from the Good News we gave you should be condemned to hell, even if he is one of us or an angel from heaven.
- Galatians 4:8When you didn’t know God, you were slaves to things which are really not gods at all.
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
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries