The Meaning of Jeremiah 10:11 Explained

Jeremiah 10:11

KJV: Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

YLT: Thus do ye say to them, The gods Who the heavens and earth have not made, They do perish from the earth, And from under these heavens.

Darby: Thus shall ye say unto them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.

ASV: Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thus  shall ye say  unto them, The gods  that have not  made  the heavens  and the earth,  [even] they shall perish  from the earth,  and from under  these  heavens. 

What does Jeremiah 10:11 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jeremiah instructed his audience to say that these idols would perish, because they were human creations rather than the divine Creator. This is the only Aramaic verse in Jeremiah.
"The Tg [1] prefaces Jeremiah 10:11 with these words: "This is the copy of the letter which the Prophet Jeremiah sent to the leaders of the exile in Babylon: "If the Chaldeans say to you, worship our idols, then answer them as follows."" This suggests that Jeremiah 10:11 was a shortened version of a letter sent by Jeremiah to Jehoiachin and the other exiles in Babylon [2] between598,587 B.C. (compare Jeremiah 29:1-32)." [3]
Another possibility is that this verse represents a well-known saying that someone, perhaps an Aramaic speaker, added to the text under divine inspiration. [4]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 10

1  The unequal comparison of God and idols
17  The prophet exhorts to flee from the calamity to come
19  He laments the spoil of the tabernacle by foolish pastors
23  He makes an humble supplication

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 10:11 mean?

Like this you shall say to them the gods that the heavens and the earth not have made shall perish from the earth and from under heavens these -
כִּדְנָה֙ תֵּאמְר֣וּן לְה֔וֹם אֱלָ֣הַיָּ֔א דִּֽי־ שְׁמַיָּ֥א וְאַרְקָ֖א לָ֣א עֲבַ֑דוּ יֵאבַ֧דוּ מֵֽאַרְעָ֛א וּמִן־ תְּח֥וֹת שְׁמַיָּ֖א אֵֽלֶּה ס

כִּדְנָה֙  Like  this 
Parse: Preposition-k, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: דְּנָה  
Sense: this, on account of this adv.
תֵּאמְר֣וּן  you  shall  say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine plural
Root: אֲמַר  
Sense: (P’al) to say, to speak, to command, to tell, to relate.
לְה֔וֹם  to  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
אֱלָ֣הַיָּ֔א  the  gods 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural determinate
Root: אֱלָהּ  
Sense: god, God.
דִּֽי־  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: דִּי  
Sense: who, which, that mark of genitive.
שְׁמַיָּ֥א  the  heavens 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural determinate
Root: שְׁמַיִן  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
וְאַרְקָ֖א  and  the  earth 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular determinate
Root: אֲרַק  
Sense: earth, the earth.
עֲבַ֑דוּ  have  made 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine plural
Root: עֲבַד  
Sense: to make, do.
יֵאבַ֧דוּ  shall  perish 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Jussive, third person masculine plural
Root: אֲבַד  
Sense: to perish, vanish.
מֵֽאַרְעָ֛א  from  the  earth 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular determinate
Root: אֲרַע  
Sense: earth, world, ground.
וּמִן־  and  from 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: מִן  
Sense: from, out of, by, by reason of, at, more than.
תְּח֥וֹת  under 
Parse: Preposition
Root: תְּחֹות  
Sense: under.
שְׁמַיָּ֖א  heavens 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural determinate
Root: שְׁמַיִן  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
אֵֽלֶּה  these 
Parse: Pronoun, third person common plural
Root: אֵלֶּה  
Sense: these.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation