Jeremiah 10:12

He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) He hath made . . . he hath established.—The words are participial in form, making . . . establishing, and complete the list of divine attributes in Jeremiah 10:10, contrasting the creative might of Jehovah with the impotence of the gods of the heathen.

The world.—As contrasted with the material earth, the inhabited world, the world considered in its relation to man, as in Proverbs 8:31.

Discretion.—Better, skill.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 10:12-13. He hath made the earth, &c. — Here follows a noble and lofty description of God’s power and providence, whereby he sets forth his infinite pre-eminence above all the dead and senseless idols of the world. When he uttereth his voice, &c. — When he gives the word of command, and signifies his will and pleasure: see Job 38:34. Or, when he sends forth his thunder, called in Scripture the voice of God, the clouds immediately precipitate in torrents of rain, which, coming upon the ground that was scorched with heat before, not only cools and refreshes it, but renders it fruitful in all kinds of vegetable productions. He maketh lightnings with rain — And as he causes the vapours to ascend up in clouds from every quarter of the earth, so he joins two contrary things together, ordaining great flashes of lightning to break forth with the rain; the latter, by its moisture, preventing the ill effects that might otherwise proceed from the heat of the former. And bringeth forth the winds out of his treasures — As there is occasion for them, directing them all in such measures, and for such uses, as he thinks fit. In other words, “He makes great and mighty winds to come from unknown places and causes, as if he brought them out of a hidden treasure, or repository, where they had been laid up till he had occasion for them.” — Lowth.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:1-16 The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving that glory to another which is due to him alone. He is ready to forgive, and save all who repent and believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. Faith learns these blessed truths from the word of God; but all knowledge not from that source, leads to doctrines of vanity.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Discretion - Or, understanding. The three attributes ascribed to the Creator are very remarkable. The creation of the earth, the material world, is an act of "power;" the "establishing," i. e., the ordering and arranging it as a place fit for man's abode, is the work of his "wisdom;" while the spreading out the heavens over it like a tent is an act of "understanding," or skill. Naturally, the consideration of these attributes has led many to see here an allusion to the Holy Trinity.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. Continuation of Jer 10:10, after the interruption of the thread of the discourse in Jer 10:11 (Ps 136:5, 6).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In this and the next verse the prophet enumerates some particulars wherein he is transcendently above all creatures which he hath made, much more above idols, which are the works of man’s hands.

The earth, Acts 14:15, i.e. the whole globe, consisting of waters as well as earth.

By his power: it must needs speak an almighty power to make such a vast body; where would the idols have found materials of which to have composed such a body and bulk? the true God was not at a loss, he drew them out of nothing, and commanded them into a being by the word of his power, Genesis 1:1.

He hath established the world by his wisdom; either he hath made it firm, solid, and unmovable, i.e. off from its basis, or rather centre; (for it is out of our sphere and province here to meddle either with the fixation or the motion of it, that is left to the old and new philosophers to dispute among themselves;) or else by establishing we understand he hath appointed it its use, or hath prepared it to be every way subservient to the inhabitants thereof, both as to delight in prospect, and varieties of recreation, by its ornamental parts in mountains, little hills, woods, meadows, fields, &c., and necessity to accommodate man and beast with all things useful, both for habitation and provision, to sustain the natural life, and to praise and magnify the founder of it, Genesis 1:11,12; all which cannot choose but greatly manifest the unsearchable wisdom of God. And hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion: these are

stretched out, i.e. expanded and spread over our head, through the whole circumference of the earth, with all their glorious furniture, and varieties of motions, moving regularly in their several orbs, i.e. not varying the least degree, either in time or space, from the order and law that God hath set them, even in those which are more eccentric and erratic; which must needs argue an unparalleled skill and understanding in God, which the word discretion doth here properly signify, Exodus 36:1 Job 12:13; all which are his handiwork, and do declare his glory, Psalm 19:1.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He hath made the earth by his power,.... The Targum considers these words as a continuation of the answer of the Jews to the Chaldeans, paraphrasing them thus,

"and so shall ye say unto them, `we worship him who hath made the earth by his power':''

who stands opposed to the gods that made not the heavens and the earth, that had no title to deity, nor right to worship; but the true God has both; and his making the earth out of nothing, and hanging it upon nothing, and preserving it firm and stable, are proofs of his almighty power, and so of his deity; and consequently that he ought to be worshipped, and he only.

He hath established the world by his wisdom; upon the rivers and floods; or he hath poised it in the air; or he hath disposed it in an orderly, regular, and beautiful manner, as the word (u) used signifies; by making it terraqueous, partly land, and partly water; by opening in it fountains and rivers; by diversifying it with hills and vales, with wood and arable land, &c.; all which show the wisdom as well as the power of God.

And hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion; as a canopy over the earth, as a tent to dwell in; and which is beautifully bespangled with the luminaries in it; hence it has the name of expanse, or the firmament of heaven.

(u) "aptavit", Cocceius; "preparans", Schmidt; a "aptavit, disposuit", Gussetius.

Geneva Study Bible

He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12, 13. The creation of all things, and in particular the phenomena of the tempest, are appealed to as signs of Jehovah’s supremacy.

12–16. Repeated Jeremiah 51:15-19.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 12-16. - Repeated with a slight variation in Jeremiah 51:15-19. Verse 12. - He hath made the earth, etc. (comp. the frequent references to the Divine creatorship in the latter part of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:22; Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 45:12, 18; Isaiah 51:13). By his discretion; rather, by his understanding. Jeremiah 10:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The third strophe. - In it the almighty power of the living God is shown from His providential government of nature, the overthrow of the false gods in the time of judgment is declared, and, finally, the Creator of the universe is set forth as the God of Israel. - Jeremiah 10:12. "That made the earth by His power, that founded the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. Jeremiah 10:13. When He thundering makes the roar of waters in the heavens, He causes clouds to rise from the ends of the earth, makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind forth out of His treasuries. Jeremiah 10:14. Brutish becomes every man without knowledge; ashamed is every goldsmith by reason of the image, for falsehood is his molten image, and there is no spirit in them. Jeremiah 10:15. Vanity are they, a work of mockery; in the time of their visitation they perish. Jeremiah 10:16. Not like these is the portion of Jacob: the framer of (the) all is He, and Israel is the stock of His inheritance: Jahveh of hosts is His name."

In point of form, "that made the earth," etc., connects with "Jahveh God," Jeremiah 10:10; but in respect of its matter, the description of God as Creator of heaven and earth is led up to by the contrast: The gods which have not made the heaven and the earth shall perish. The subject to עשׂה and the following verbs is not expressed, but may be supplied from the contrasted statement of Jeremiah 10:11, or from the substance of the several statements in Jeremiah 10:12. The connection may be taken thus: The true God is the one making the earth by His power equals is He that made, etc. As the creation of the earth is a work of God's almighty power, so the establishing, the founding of it upon the waters (Psalm 24:2) is an act of divine wisdom, and the stretching out of the heavens over the earth like a tent (Isaiah 40:22; Psalm 104:2) is a work of intelligent design. On this cf. Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 45:18; Isaiah 51:13. Every thunder-storm bears witness to the wise and almighty government of God, Jeremiah 10:13. The words לקול are difficult. Acc. to Ew. ֗307, b, they stand for לתּתּו קול: when He gives His voice, i.e., when He thunders. In support of this it may be said, that the mention of lightnings, rain, and wind suggests such an interpretation. But the transposition of the words cannot be justified. Hitz. has justly remarked: The putting of the accusative first, taken by itself, might do; but not when it must at the same time be stat. constr., and when its genitive thus separated from it would assume the appearance of being an accusative to תּתּו. Besides, we would expect לתת קולו rather than לתּתּו קול. קול תּתּו cannot grammatically be rendered: the voice which He gives, as Ng. would have it, but: the voice of His giving; and "roar of waters" must be the accusative of the object, governed by תּתּו. Hence we must protest against the explanation of L. de Dieu: ad vocem dationis ejus multitudo aquarum est in caelo, at least if ad vocem dationis is tantamount to simul ac dat. Just as little can לקול taken by itself mean thunder, so that ad vocem should, with Schnur., be interpreted by tonitru est dare ejus multitudinem aquae. The only grammatically feasible explanation is the second of those proposed by L. de Dieu: ad vocem dandi ipsum, i.e., qua dat vel ponit multitudinem aquarum. So Hitz.: at the roar of His giving wealth of waters. Accordingly we expound: at the noise, when He gives the roar of waters in heaven, He raises up clouds from the ends of the earth; taking, as we do, the ויּעלה to be a ו consec. introducing the supplementary clause. The voice or noise with which God gives the roar or the fulness of waters in the heaven, is the sound of the thunder. With this the gathering of the dark thunder-clouds is put into causal connection, as it appears to be to the eye; for during the thunder we see the thunder-clouds gather thicker and darker on the horizon. נשׂיא, the ascended, poetic word for cloud. Lightnings for the rain; i.e., since the rain comes as a consequence of the lightning, for the lightning seems to rend the clouds and let them pour their water out on the earth. Thunder-storms are always accompanied by a strong wind. God causes the wind to go forth from His store-chambers, where He has it also under custody, and blow over the earth. See a like simile of the store-chambers of the snow and hail, Job 38:22. From ויּעלה onwards, this verse is repeated in Psalm 135:7.