New International Version
Psalms 115:4
4But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
Psalms 115:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Their idols are silver and gold, the work of 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 do the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. 5They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 6They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot 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 who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols— worship him, all you gods!
- Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands.
- Deuteronomy 4:28There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
- Isaiah 40:19As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.
- Isaiah 42:17But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame.
- Isaiah 46:1Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary.
- Jeremiah 10:3For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
- Hosea 8:6They are from Israel! This calf—a metalworker has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.
- Habakkuk 2:18“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
- Acts 19:26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.
- 1 Corinthians 10:19Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol 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
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