“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.”
The idols' powerlessness: 'Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.' This verse compares idols to scarecrows: they cannot speak, cannot walk, and must be carried like children. The rhetorical instruction 'Do not fear them' implies that people irrationally fear objects that are fundamentally powerless. The phrase 'they can do no harm nor can they do any good' establishes complete powerlessness. Theologically, this verse articulates Jeremiah's critique of idolatry: people worship objects that are less powerful than humans themselves.
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