Can man make for himself gods? may be more effective as a statement: “No one can make his own gods” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Good News Translation retains the question form, but then answers in the negative: “No, if they did, those would not really be gods.” A similar rendering is “No, because what people make cannot be gods.”

See also 1.16 for a discussion of “other gods.”

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 .