John Calvin: Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations - Volume 2

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Jeremiah 10:6

6. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

6. A non ⁶⁶     The word is, מאין: the מ here is not a preposition, but a formative, and the word means none. So all the versions and the Targum render it. The proper rendering of the verse is —
   None is like thee, Jehovah; Great art thou, And great is thy name, in strength.
    — Ed. (vel, ab eo quod non, hoc est, ab ultimis temporibus non) sicut tu Jehova reperietur; magnus tu, et magnum nomen tuum in fortitudine.

As the truth respecting the gods of the heathens, that they are mere figments, would be useless and of no moment, were not the knowledge of the, true God added, the Prophet now introduces God himself. And there is another reason; for no one could know that these wooden and stony gods are of no account, were not the truth respecting the true God to shine forth. Whosoever does not understand that there is a God, and does not know who or what he is, can never be really influenced by this truth, that the gods of the heathens are demons, and that all their superstitions are sacrilegious.

We now then perceive why the Prophet turns to the true God: it was, that the brightness of God’s glory might dissipate the darkness in which the Gentiles were involved, and also, that true religion might really influence the hearts of men, so that by acknowledging the one true God, to whose power we ought to submit, they might not only despise and repudiate all idols, but also hate and abhor them. The rest to-morrow.

⁶     The word is, מאין: the מ here is not a preposition, but a formative, and the word means none. So all the versions and the Targum render it. The proper rendering of the verse is —
   None is like thee, Jehovah; Great art thou, And great is thy name, in strength.
    — Ed.

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Jeremiah 10:6

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