But they were miserable, and their hopes were in dead things, who called them gods which are works of men’s hands, gold and silver, skillfully made, and likenesses of animals, or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 10. Of men. The pagans in general took the material statue to be the residence of a god. Saint Augustine de Civ. Dei. Calmet. vii. 6. and viii. 13.—The more learned regarded the figures of the sun, and so forth as his representations, while others supposed that Jupiter meant the heavens, Juno the air, Vulcan, fire, and so forth—Hand. This is to abuse antiquity. The idol of the Arabs was a rough stone. In more polished nations, the workmanship of Praxiteles, Phidias, and so forth was more regarded. Calmet.—As no creature deserves to be esteemed a god, much less do the works of men’s hands. Worthington.