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.
My Notes
Commentary
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Gill's Exposition
For the customs of the people are vain,.... Or, "their decrees", or "statutes" (o), their determinations and conclusions, founded upon the observation of the stars; or, their "rites and ceremonies"…
Barnes' Notes
The customs - Better, as the marg, “the ordinances,” established institutions, “of the peoples, i. e.” pagan nations.
The prophet Isaiah, when he prophesied of the captivity in Babylon, added warnings against idolatry and largely exposed the sottishness of idolaters, not only because the temptations in Babylon would…
Cambridge Bible
customs lit. as mg. statutes. The expression is strange in this connexion. Probably the word in MT. has suffered corruption, but no substitute commanding general acceptance has been found. It is…
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