Habakkuk 2:18
What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
KJV
Quid prodest sculptile, quia sculpsit illud fictor suus, conflatile, et imaginem falsam ? quia speravit in figmento fictor ejus, ut faceret simulacra muta.
Vulgate
Τί ὠφελεῖ γλυπτόν, ὅτι ἔγλυψαν αὐτό; ἔπλασεν αὐτὸ χώνευμα, φαντασίαν ψευδῆ, ὅτι πέποιθεν ὁ πλάσας ἐπὶ τὸ πλάσμα αὐτοῦ τοῦ ποιῆσαι εἴδωλα κωφά.
LXX
What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
ASV
מָֽה הוֹעִ֣יל פֶּ֗סֶל כִּ֤י פְסָל/וֹ֙ יֹֽצְר֔/וֹ מַסֵּכָ֖ה וּ/מ֣וֹרֶה שָּׁ֑קֶר כִּ֣י בָטַ֞ח יֹצֵ֤ר יִצְר/וֹ֙ עָלָ֔י/ו לַ/עֲשׂ֖וֹת אֱלִילִ֥ים אִלְּמִֽים
Hebrew
Open in reader with connections →
In the original Hebrew
15 distinct Hebrew words appear in this verse.
Themes
Historic Christian voices
5 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.
Q. But may not images be permitted in the churches as teaching aids for the unlearned? A. No, we shouldn't try to be wiser than God. He wants his people instructed by the living preaching of his Word — not by idols that cannot even talk.
Cross-references
- 1Cor 12:2 — Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
- 1Cor 12:2 — Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
- 1Sam 12:21 — And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
- 1Tim 4:1 — Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
- 2Thess 2:9 — Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
- 2Tim 2:14 — Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
- Acts 7:41 — And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
- Amos 2:4 — Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, a
- Dan 5:23 — But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and
- Hos 8:6 — For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
- Hos 13:2 — And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men tha
- Isa 1:31 — And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
- Isa 26:14 — They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
- Isa 37:38 — And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon h
- Isa 40:19 — The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
- Isa 41:26 — Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that he
- Isa 42:17 — They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
- Isa 44:9 — They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
- Isa 44:9 — They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
- Isa 44:10 — Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
- Isa 44:14 — He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
- Isa 44:20 — He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
- Isa 45:16 — They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
- Isa 45:20 — Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
- Isa 46:1 — Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.
- Isa 46:6 — They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
- Jer 2:8 — The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not pr
- Jer 2:27 — Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, a
- Jer 10:3 — For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
- Jer 10:3 — For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
- Jer 10:8 — But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
- Jer 10:8 — But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
- Jer 10:14 — Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Jer 10:14 — Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Jer 16:19 — O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanit
- Jer 50:2 — Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images
- Jer 51:17 — Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Jonah 2:8 — They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
- Jonah 2:8 — They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
- Judg 18:24 — And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?