Jeremiah 10:12
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The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
We may conjecture that the prophecy of this chapter was delivered after the first captivity, in the time of Jeconiah or Jehoiachin, when many were carried away to Babylon; for it has a double reference: - I. To those that were carried away into the land of the Chaldeans, a country notorious above any other for idolatry and superstition; and they are here cautioned against the infection of the place, not to learn the way of the heathen (Jer 10:1, Jer 10:2), for their astrology and idolatry are both foolish things (Jer 10:3-5), and the worshippers of idols brutish (Jer 10:8, Jer 10:9). So it will appear in the day of their visitation (Jer 10:14, Jer 10:15). They are likewise exhorted to adhere firmly to the God of Israel, for there is none like him (Jer 10:6, Jer 10:7). He is the true God, lives for ever, and has the government of the world (Jer 10:10-13), and his people are happy in him (Jer 10:16). II. To those that yet remained in their own land. They are cautioned against security, and told to expect distress (Jer 10:17, Jer 10:18) and that by a foreign enemy, which God would bring upon them for their sin (Jer 10:20-22). This calamity the prophet laments (Jer 10:19) and prays for the mitigation of it (Jer 10:23-25).
Open source ↗10:12-16 This stanza contains several strong affirmations of God’s nature. 10:12 Jeremiah affirmed that the Lord’s power, wisdom, and understanding are the attributes with which he creates and sustains creation.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.
This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion its desolate inheritances,