Jeremiah 16:20 · Bible study
Jeremiah 16:20 Commentary: The Absurdity of Creating God
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Jeremiah 16:20 exposes the folly of idolatry, asking how a creature can make the Creator. Study the rhetorical force and theological implications.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Rhetorical question exposing the absurdity of a creature attempting to create the Creator, affirming that idols are nothing.
- Key words: אָדָם ('adam, man), אֱלֹהִים (elohim, gods), לֹא (lo, no/not), the contrast between mortal man and the unique God.
- Main debate: Whether the verse is the prophet’s own protest, the Gentiles’ confession, or a direct word from Yahweh. The tone shifts across interpretations.
- Theological theme: Creator-creature distinction, only God is self-existent; all else is derivative and contingent.
- Best use: Personal and corporate examination of idolatry, apologetics for monotheism, and teaching on the nature of true worship.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Can man make gods for himself? Such are not gods!”
WEB World English Bible 2000
Should a man make to himself gods which yet are no gods?”
KJV King James Version 1769
Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Shall a man make unto himself gods, which yet are no gods?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Doth man make for himself gods, And they--no gods?
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Shall a man makegods unto himself, and they are no-gods?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Shall a man make gods unto himself and they are no gods?
Translations in other languages (10 available)
¿ Ha de hacer el hombre dioses para sí? mas ellos no son dioses.
Pode, por acaso, o homem fazer deuses para si? Eles, porém, não são deuses.
L’ homme peut-il se faire des dieux,
Wie kann ein Mensch Götter machen, die doch keine Götter sind?
Zal een mens zich goden maken? Zij zijn toch geen goden.
L’uomo si farebbe egli degli dèi? Ma già cotesti non sono dèi.
Izali sobie człowiek uczynić może bogów? ponieważ sami nie są bogami.
Может ли человек сделать себе богов, которые впрочем не боги?
人 豈可為自己 製造 神呢？其實這 不是 神。
Will a man make for himself gods which are no gods?
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Jeremiah 16:20
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree this verse is a rhetorical question exposing the absurdity of idolatry. Calvin argues that since man is a creature, he cannot create the Creator, no one gives what he has not. Gill echoes that man cannot impart deity to wood or stone. Clarke notes the verse confronts fallen humanity's capacity for what is 'base, mean, vile, and wicked.' Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown call it an 'indignant protest against idols.' Keil and Delitzsch place the words within the Gentiles' confession in verse 19: the nations recognize that their fathers inherited 'lies, vanity, and things in which there is no profit.' The shared foundation is clear: a finite, mortal human cannot manufacture the infinite God. The gods that humans make are, and remain, no gods at all.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Prophet’s indignant protest: Jeremiah 16:19 begins with the prophet’s own prayer; verse 20 follows as his cry against Israel’s idolatry (so Calvin, JFB).
- Gentiles’ confession: Verse 19 introduces the speech of the nations; verse 20 continues that speech, exposing the folly their ancestors practiced (Keil & Delitzsch, supported by the 'our fathers' context).
- Direct oracle of God: Some traditional readers see the verse as the word of Yahweh, since verse 21 also speaks in the first person: 'I will cause them to know.'
What is clear: Across all interpretations, the verse unambiguously teaches that no human being can create a real god; idols are empty inventions, and only Yahweh is the true God.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker of the verse | The words belong to someone reacting to idolatry, either the prophet, the converted Gentiles, or God. | Calvin and JFB take it as Jeremiah’s own indignant protest; Keil & Delitzsch read it as the Gentiles' confession (continuation of v. 19). |
| Nature of the absurdity | All agree the verse exposes logical and theological absurdity: a mortal cannot produce deity. | Calvin calls it 'monstrous madness'; Clarke stresses fallen humanity's capacity for evil; Gill focuses on the impotence of man to impart divine nature. |
| Place in the passage | Verse 20 is central to the futility of idolatry that leads to the nations' confession (v. 19) and God's self-revelation (v. 21). | Some see vv. 19, 21 as a later insertion (Cambridge Bible notes scholars who doubt authenticity); others read it as integral to Jeremiah’s original prophecy. |
| Meaning of 'no gods' | The manufactured images have no divine reality, they are not gods in any true sense. | Most take it as a statement of ontological emptiness; the Vulgate (mentioned by JFB) suggests the phrase could also mean 'and they (men) are not gods themselves', a variation on the same point. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jeremiah prophesied in Judah's final decades, when the nation was torn between loyalty to Yahweh and the allure of surrounding pagan cults. Despite Josiah's reform (2 Kings 23), idolatry persisted in secret and eventually in the open. Chapter 16 describes both a harsh judgment, exile through 'fishermen' and 'hunters', and a stunning promise: the nations themselves will turn to Yahweh and confess the emptiness of their ancestors' worship.
Verse 20 sits within that future confession (vv. 19, 21). The rhetorical question was a standard prophetic tool; Isaiah mocks idol makers (Isaiah 44:9, 20), and Psalm 115:4 says idols are 'the work of men's hands.' The word 'gods' (אֱלֹהִים, elohim) is ironic, it can refer to the true God, but here it applies to manufactured images that have no divine reality. The Hebrew word אָדָם ('adam) means 'man' as a mortal human, not a divine being. The question takes its force from the Creator-creature distinction: if a human is weak and temporary, how can he create God?
Ancient Near Eastern peoples believed their idols channeled divine power. Israel's prophets insisted the idols were nothing, a theological revolution. Jeremiah 16:20 sharpens the point: the worshiper is trying to make the one he should be serving. The verse calls readers to see the transparent absurdity of idolatry and to turn to the God who made them, not the other way around.
Textual Notes
The Hebrew Masoretic Text is consistent across manuscripts. Calvin notes the Syriac version paraphrases the verse as 'Can he who is not God make a god?', a reading that emphasizes the creator’s deficiency rather than the product’s emptiness. The Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate follow the MT, making the Syriac a minority variant. Some commentators (noted in Cambridge Bible) question the authenticity of the surrounding passage (vv. 14, 21), but the text of verse 20 itself faces no significant textual challenge.
Reception History
This verse has long been used in Jewish and Christian polemic to attack idolatry by highlighting its logical absurdity. The early church, in its apologetic literature, argued from a similar principle: if humans are contingent, they cannot produce the necessary Being. The verse has also been a staple in Reformed sermons on the Creator-creature distinction, particularly through Calvin’s and Gill’s commentaries. In modern evangelical missions, Jeremiah 16:20 is cited to challenge animistic worldviews where spirits are manufactured through rituals. Its main strength is its simplicity: a rhetorical question that any hearer, regardless of education, can grasp, and be convicted by.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The absurd assumption: Man, a finite, fallen creature, presumes he can make a god. The very idea is self-contradictory (v. 20a).
- The empty result: Whatever hand or mind produces never becomes a real god. The idols remain wood, stone, or metal, powerless and dead (v. 20b).
- The true confession: In the coming age, the nations will renounce their manufactured gods and declare that only Yahweh is God (vv. 19, 21). The verse thus points forward to the worship of all peoples.
Five-point outline
- Who is asking? The rhetorical question may come from the prophet himself, from the converted Gentiles, or from God through Jeremiah. Each reading strengthens the absurdity.
- What is man? The word 'adam reminds us of humanity's origin (dust), mortality, and dependence. Creatures do not create their Creator.
- What are these gods? The repeated word elohim contrasts false gods with the true God. They are called gods by humans but have no divine nature.
- Why is it absurd? No one gives what they do not have (Calvin). A mortal cannot impart immortality; a contingent being cannot produce necessary being.
- What is the result? The chapter ends with a promise: Yahweh will make Himself known, and the nations will finally know that His name is Yahweh (v. 21). The absurdity of idolatry clears the way for true worship.
Illustration hooks
- CEO expecting a raise from a new hire: We laugh at the idea of a junior employee giving a bonus to the boss, it reverses authority. Idolatry does the same: the creature expects the Creator to accept what he has made.
- Building a shelter with a leak: You can trust a tent you built, but if you live in a hurricane zone, the tent cannot protect you. Idols are human-sized solutions to divine-sized problems.
- Loving a photograph instead of the person: A photo is a useful reminder; mistaking it for the real person is foolish. Idolatry treats the image as if it is the reality.
Questions your congregation is asking
- How do I create 'gods' in my own image without literally carving an idol?
- Can a good intention (like wanting security) become an idol if I trust it more than God?
- What does it mean to 'know that my name is Yahweh' in practical terms for my week?
Leading a Discussion
This small-group guide focuses on Jeremiah 16:20 as part of the larger passage (vv. 19, 21). The verse uses a rhetorical question to expose the folly of idolatry and prepares the way for the true worship of Yahweh. Use the questions below to help your group move from observing the text to applying its heart-search.
Discussion questions
- Read Jeremiah 16:19, 21 aloud. Who is the 'we' in verse 19? What are the nations confessing about their ancestors?
- Explain the rhetorical question in verse 20 in your own words. Why is it considered absurd for a man to make gods?
- How do the cross-references (Psalm 115:4, 8; Isaiah 37:19; Jeremiah 2:11) reinforce the same truth?
- What does the word 'man' (אָדָם, 'adam) suggest about our limitations? Why does that matter when we think about creating God?
- In what ways might we still try to 'manufacture a god' to suit our preferences, in our thinking, our worship, or our life priorities?
- The passage ends with God's promise to make Himself known (v. 21). How does the revelation of God's 'hand and might' differ from the power of idols?
- How can the church today share this message of the futility of idols without sounding arrogant? Where have you seen people turn from false gods to the living God?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 115:4 | Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. |
| Psalms 115:8 | Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them. |
| Psalms 135:14 | For Yahweh will judge his people and have compassion on his servants. |
| Psalms 135:18 | Those who make them will be like them, yes, everyone who trusts in them. |
| Isaiah 36:19 | Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? |
| Isaiah 37:19 | and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. |
| Jeremiah 2:11 | Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doesn’t profit. |
| Hosea 8:4 | They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn’t approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke presses the absurdity of humans making their own gods, asking whether anyone could be so foolish. His answer is that fallen people, left to themselves, are capable of every kind of wickedness until Christ's grace transforms them.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin argues that the real folly of idol-making is not that people worship perishable materials—wood stays wood—but that a creature tries to create its Creator. Since man is frail and has no divine power, he cannot give what he does not have. Attempting to make a god is therefore monstrous madness.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible points out that many scholars doubt the authenticity of large parts of this passage, though their arguments are not conclusive except for two specific verses. The commentary notes a broad consensus against the passage, yet it does not consider the case proven for most of the disputed material.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note emphasizes the absurdity of human efforts to manufacture gods. A man cannot create what is truly divine; any god he fashions with his own hands is simply no god at all. The point is the sheer folly and self-deception of trying to produce a deity.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses the sheer absurdity of humans fashioning their own gods. A weak, mortal creature cannot impart deity to gold, silver, or stone. He notes that even the pagan Gentiles recognized this folly, making it a pointed rebuke to any who repeat the same stupidity.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB highlights the absurdity of a creature trying to make its own Creator, calling it a logical contradiction. The commentator also notes the Vulgate's sharper point: if men themselves are not gods, how can they make gods?
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch argue that the fishermen and hunters in this passage do not represent gathering the people back to their land, but rather capturing them for punishment. The hunters specifically pursue those who flee to hiding places, ensuring that no one escapes judgment. By requiting "double," God repays their sins in full measure before any restoration.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry observes that judgment and mercy are so tightly interwoven in these verses that it is hard to tell which is which, and some passages seem to look ahead to gospel times. He stresses that God sees every hidden sin and will certainly punish idolatry.