Psalms 115 · Verse 4

Psalms 115:4

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Psalms 115:4, King James Version

Psalms 115:4 in other translations

BSBTheir idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
WEBTheir idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
ASVTheir idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
YLTTheir idols are silver and gold, work of man's hands,
DARBYTheir idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands:
BBETheir images are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
WebsterTheir idols are silver and gold; the work of men's hands.

What does Psalms 115:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 115:4-7
4-7. (Compare Is 40:18-20; 44:9-20).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 Their idols are silver, etc. - They are metal, stone, and wood. They are generally made in the form of man, but can neither see, hear, smell, feel, walk, nor speak. How brutish to trust in such! And next to these, in stupidity and inanity, must they be who form them, with the expectation of deriving any good from them. So obviously vain was the whole system of idolatry, that the more serious heathens ridiculed it, and it was a butt for the jests of their freethinkers and buffoons. How keen are those words of Juvenal! - - Audis Jupiter, haec? nec labra moves, cum mittere vocem. Debueras, vel marmoreus vel aheneus? aut cur In carbone tuo charta pia thura soluta Ponimus, et sectum vituli jecur, albaque porci Omenta? ut video, nullum discrimen habendum est. Effigies inter vestras, statuamque Bathylli. Sat. xiii., ver. 113. Dost thou hear, O Jupiter, these things? nor move thy lips when thou oughtest to speak out, whether thou art of marble or of bronze? Or, why do we put the sacred incense on thy altar from the opened paper, and the extracted liver of a calf, and the white caul of a hog? As far as I can discern there is no difference between thy statue and that of Bathyllus." This irony will appear the keener, when it is known that Bathyllus was a fiddler and player, whose image by the order of Polycrates, was erected in the temple of Juno at Samos. See Isa 41:1, etc.; Isa 46:7; Jer 10:4, Jer 10:5, etc.; and Psa 135:15, Psa 135:16.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 115:1-8

by trusting in him and praising him. (9-18) Verses 1-8 Let no opinion of our own merits have any place in our prayers or in our praises. All the good we do, is done by the power of his grace; and all the good we have, is the gift of his mere mercy, and he must have all the praise. Are we in pursuit of any mercy, and wrestling with God for it, we must take encouragement in prayer from God only. Lord, do so for us…

Read the full comment on Psalms 115:1-8 →

Psalms 115:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עֲֽ֭צַבֵּיהֶם'aTza.bei.hemidols theirH6091
כֶּ֣סֶףKe.sef[are] silverH3701
וְזָהָ֑בve.za.Havand goldH2091
מַ֝עֲשֵׂ֗הma.'a.Seh[the] work ofH4639
יְדֵ֣יye.Dei[the] hands ofH3027
אָדָֽם\׃'a.DamhumankindH120

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 115:4

  • Deuteronomy 4:28

    And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

  • Isaiah 46:6-7

    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. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

  • Jeremiah 10:3-5

    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. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

  • Isaiah 40:19-20

    The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

  • Habakkuk 2:18-20

    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? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

  • Isaiah 44:10

    Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?

  • Isaiah 46:1-2

    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. They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.

  • 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.

  • Acts 19:26

    Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

  • Psalms 135:15-18

    The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.

  • 1 Corinthians 10:19-20

    What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

  • Hosea 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.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Their idols.They are metal, stone, and wood; and though generally made in the form of man, they can neither see, hear, smell, feel, walk, nor speak! Even the wiser heathen made them the objects of their jests.
97:7; 135:15-17; De 4:28; Isa 40:19,20; 42:17; 46:1,2,6,7
Jer 10:3-5; Ho 8:6; Hab 2:18-20; Ac 19:26,35; 1Co 10:19,20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 115:3

    But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

  • Psalms 115:4

    Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

  • Psalms 115:5

    They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:

Read all of Psalms 115

Psalms 115:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Sus ídolos son plata y oro, obra de manos de hombres.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Leurs idoles sont de l’argent et de l’or, ouvrage de mains d’homme:
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ihre Götzen sind Silber und Gold, ein Werk von Menschenhänden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo.