Habakkuk 2:18
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?
Study Note
Study Note
The rhetorical taunt against idols — '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?' — forms part of the famous five woes against the Babylonian oppressor. The 'teacher of lies' (moreh sheker) is the idol itself: what is crafted to mediate divine instruction delivers only deception. The manufacturer trusting his own product — 'the maker of his work trusteth therein' — illustrates the circular absurdity of idolatry: humans create what they then submit to. Paul's analysis in Romans 1:22-25 ('they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature') develops this same idolatry-as-self-deception critique into a universal account of human sin.
Other Translations
What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
What profit hath a graven image given That its former hath graven it? A molten image and teacher of falsehood, That trusted hath the former on his own formation--to make dumb idols?
What profit is the pictured image to its maker? and as for the metal image, the false teacher, why does its maker put his faith in it, making false gods without a voice?
Cross References
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.
And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn …
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer …
They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten …
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they …
Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees …