1 Chronicles 16:26

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

For all the gods of the peoples are idols: But Yahweh made the heavens.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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אֱלִילִ֔ים

ʼĕlîyl

H457

“idols”

Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute

Appears 20× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Leviticus 19:4

Full BDB Definition

Origin: apparently from H408

TWOT: 99a

of nought, good for nothing, worthless - of physicians, a shepherd, a divination - of false gods

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

8: words
8: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is אֱלִילִ֔ים worthless H457 — appearing just 20 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

אֱלִילִ֔ים worthless H457 occurs in 18 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

1 verb
6 nouns
1 conjunction

Verb forms

עָשָֽׂה Qal · Perfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 14 words from the Hebrew and 15 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 8 Hebrew tokens and 13 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Chronicles 16:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Psalms 102:25 Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.
Isaiah 42:5 Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he who spread abroad the earth and that which comes out of it; he who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk therein:
Isaiah 44:24 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who stretches forth the heavens alone; who spreads abroad the earth (who is with me?);
Leviticus 19:4 "'Don't turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their host by number; he calls them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
Psalms 115:4–8 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men's hands.
Isaiah 44:9–20 Those who fashion an engraved image are all of them vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses don't see, nor know: that they may be disappointed.
Jeremiah 10:10–14 But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.

Acts 19:26 You see and hear, that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands.
1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
Revelation 14:7 He said with a loud voice, "Fear the Lord, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!"

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 1 Chronicles 16:26 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

כִּ֠י כָּל אֱלֹהֵ֤י הָעַמִּים֙ אֱלִילִ֔ים וַיהוָ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם עָשָֽׂה

For all the gods of the peoples are idols: But Yahweh made the heavens.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 1 Chronicles 16:26 Septuagint · lemma form

ὅτι πᾶς ὁ θεός ὁ ἔθνος εἴδωλον καί ὁ θεός ἐγώ οὐρανός ποιέω

For all the gods of the nations are idols; but our God made the heavens.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on 1 Chronicles 16:26 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

His strong faith appeareth herein, though all the world would follow idols, yet he would cleave to the living God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

26. the people] R.V. the peoples.

made the heavens] Cp. Jer_10:11, The gods that have not made the heavens … shall perish from the earth.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

For all the gods of the peoples are idols vanity, the handiwork of man; and a similar example is in the prophecy of Habakkuk (2:18): “What did a graven image avail that its maker has graven it... etc.” until “to make dumb idols?” but the Lord made the heavens Regarding the idols it is written: “to make,” but the Holy One, blessed be he, is the Maker of the heavens and the earth and all their host.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Chronicles, in the Historical, opens this verse with 8 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ʼĕlîyl (“worthless”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “worthless” (ʼĕlîyl) shape what this verse is saying?
Leviticus 19:4 shares the word «worthless» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «עָשָֽׂה» is Qal Perfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Geneva Bible (1599) and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 8 Hebrew ↔ 13 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 4 words in this verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 8 words in this verse.