New King James Version
Zechariah 10:2
2For 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.
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 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 the Lord for rain In the time of the latter rain. The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, Grass in the field for everyone. 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. 3“My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the goatherds. For the Lord of hosts will visit His flock, The house of Judah, And will make them as His royal horse in the battle. 4From him comes the cornerstone, From him the tent peg, From him the battle bow, From him every ruler 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 31:19Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s.
- Judges 18:14Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.”
- Isaiah 44:9Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
- Isaiah 46:5“To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?
- Jeremiah 10:8But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.
- Jeremiah 14:22Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait for You, Since You have made all these.
- Hosea 3:4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
- Habakkuk 2:18“What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols?
- Jeremiah 23:25“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’
- Jeremiah 27:9Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “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 in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
- Lamentations 2:14Your prophets have seen for you False and deceptive visions; They have not uncovered your iniquity, To bring back your captives, But have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.
- Ezekiel 13:6They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed.
- Ezekiel 21:29While they see false visions for you, While they divine a lie to you, To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain Whose day has come, Whose iniquity shall end.
- Micah 3:6“Therefore you shall have night without vision, And you shall have darkness without divination; The sun shall go down on the prophets, And the day shall be dark for them.
- Job 13:4But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians.
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries