Within this hymn of praise, verses 14-15 portray the foolishness of idolatry and the shame experienced by those persons who trust in idols. Good News Translation makes it clear that it is in contrast with or in light of God’s power that all people are so stupid, beginning the verse with “At the sight of this, men feel stupid and senseless.” Translators could also say “But as for people, they are all stupid.”
Every man should not be limited to males. “Every person” is certainly acceptable.
Is stupid is the same verb used in verse 8. Without knowledge is literally “without knowing,” an infinitive form made from the verb “know” (see 1.5). Often translators use a verb to express this: “Everyone is stupid and knows nothing.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates this first clause as a separate sentence: “No one can understand, at this everyone is speechless with astonishment.”
Every goldsmith is translated “those who make idols” by Good News Translation; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar.
Put to shame describes the disappointment that results when a person trusts in the power and strength of idols. Thus Good News Translation translates “are disillusioned.”
It is important to structure the sentence so that it is clear that his idols refers to the idols the goldsmith makes, not the ones he worships. Likewise, his images refers to the images of gods or idols he makes, not to images of himself. The root meaning of the word is “to melt, to cast,” and thus refers to an idol made out of metal that was melted and cast into the shape of the god it represents.
False (a word used a number of times in different contexts in Jeremiah) is here best understood in the sense of “unreal”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Bright have “a fraud.”
No breath in them means “lifeless” (Good News Translation); Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “there is no breath of life in them” and Luther 1984 renders “they have no life.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .