Psalms 115:5

Psa 115:5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:

Ver. 5. They have mouths, but speak not] Unless the devil haply speak in them, and by them, as at Delphos; or the false priests, as here, in times of Popery.

Eyes have they, but they see not] And yet with wires and other devices they were made here once to goggle their eyes, to move their chaps apace, as well apaid when something of worth was presented them; as if otherwise, to look at eyes’ end, and to hang a lip.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. (Psa 115:5) They have a mouth and speak not; they have eyes and see not. As the verb to have is wanting in the Hebrew and its cognate languages (see above, on Psa 114:5), it is not a literal translation of the original expression, (there is) a mouth to them, (there are) eyes to them. The future includes not only a simple affirmation, they speak not, they see not, but the future and potential sense, they never will or can speak or see.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5, 6. They cannot teach their worshippers (Hab_2:19) or see their needs; they cannot hear prayers offered to them or smell the sweet savour of sacrifices. Jehovah, though He has no bodily form, can truly be said to speak (Isa_1:20) and see (Psa_113:6) and hear (Psa_6:8) and smell (Gen_8:21).

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.

They have mouths, but they speak not,.... These idols are carved with mouths, but they make no use of them; if any cry to them for they cannot answer them, nor save them from their troubles. Baal's priests cried to their idol, but was no voice heard, nor answer returned; they are rightly called dumb idols, Hab 2:18, Kg1 18:26, but our God in the heavens, when his people cry to him, he answers them, and sends them relief; and tells them his grace is sufficient for them, and so they find it to be.

Eyes have they, but they see not; they are made with eyes in their heads, but cannot see with them; they cannot see their worshippers, nor what they bring to them; neither their persons nor their wants, Dan 5:23, but our God and Father in heaven, he sees in secret the persons and hearts of his people; their desires are before him, and their groanings are not hid from him; his eyes are on the righteous, and are never withdrawn from them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They have mouths ... - They are shaped like people, but have none of the attributes of intelligent beings.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For although the blind heathen are by their idolatrous priests made to believe otherwise concerning their idols, in regard of the spirits which they pretend to dwell in them, yet this is the truth of the matter, and confirmed by long and constant experience, that they are but vain and senseless things; they can neither

speak in answer to your prayers of inquiries, nor see what you do or what you want, nor hear your petitions, nor smell your incenses and sacrifices, nor handle or use their hands, either to take any thing from you, or to give any filing to you: nor so much as mutter, or give the least signification of their apprehension of your condition and concerns.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 5. They have mouths, but they speak not. The idols cannot utter even the faintest sound, they cannot communicate with their worshippers, they can neither promise nor threaten, command nor console, explain the past nor prophesy the future. If they had no mouths they might not be expected to speak, but having mouths and speaking not, they are mere dumb idols, and not worthy to be compared with the Lord God who thundered at Sinai, who in old time spake by his servants the prophets, and whose voice even now breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

Eyes have they, but they see not. They cannot tell who their worshippers may be or what they offer. Certain idols have had jewels in their eyes more precious than a king's ransom, but they were as blind as the rest of the fraternity. A god who has eyes, and cannot see, is a blind deity; and blindness is a calamity, and not an attribute of godhead. He must be very blind who worships a blind god: we pity a blind man, it is strange to worship a blind image.

Ver. 5. Mouths, but they speak not. The noblest function of the mouth is to speak. Eyes, ears, and nose are the organs of certain senses. The mouth contains the organ of taste, and the hands and feet belong to the organ of touch, but speech is the glory of the mouth. James G. Murphy.

Psalms 115:6*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 5-7. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk net: neither speak they through their throat.

Possessing a semblance of every organ of human sense, they are wholly unable to perform any of the functions. That men should worship them, or believe in their power to help, is an utter absurdity.

Like god, like people.

"They that make them shall be like unto them." This suggests a topic in the line of the previous homily. It is a law which works in a twofold way. As is the god who is worshipped, so are the people who worship. As is the people who worship, so are the gods whom they create for worship. It is, indeed, the very essence of the idea of a God worthy to be worshipped, that he shall be revealed to man, not created by him; that he shall be in the sphere of man"s thoughts, and so apprehensible; but beyond the reach of man"s thoughts, and so a perpetual inspiration to him. The reproach which Jehovah makes to his people is that they have not kept him beyond them, but have reduced him to their level. "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself." We have seen that what men attempt to embody when they make their own gods is themselves; the gods are like the people. The characteristics of any nation can be known by a study of its gods; and the characteristics of any particular age of a nation can be known by its relation to, and treatment of, the national gods. Therefore the history of the nations is so largely the history of the national religions.

I Let men make their own gods like themselves, and THEY WILL NEVER MAKE THE GODS LIKE THEMSELVES AT THEIR REST. Whatever may be thought about the formulated doctrine of original sin, the fact of universal moral deterioration is bound to be generally accepted. And the sign of it is that man is not interested in his best; perhaps not even able to set before himself the image of himself at his best possible. So there never yet was an idol-god made that even represented its maker at his noblest.

II Let men make their own gods like themselves, and THEY WILL BE SURE TO MAKE THE GODS LIKE THEMSELVES AT THEIR WORST. This can be effectually illustrated by the Kali, Sarasvati, Juggernaut, of India; the Baal and Ashtaroth of Phoenicians; the Moloch of Amorites; and even the refined and artistic creations of Grecian genius; for these represent man sensual, which really is man at his lowest. And this fact, that if man makes his own gods he makes them like himself at his worst, may be shown to be equally true of those immaterial, mental, figures of God which men now make as the idols of an intellectual age. They are no more worthy of God than the hideous figures of India, and this is the serious feature of the case. Let man make his god after the pattern of himself at his worst, and the god he makes and worships will inevitably debase him lower and lower. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Those idols have mouths

The idols do not have real mouths, eyes, ears, or noses. Rather, people made them with the likeness of mouths, eyes, ears, and noses. The writer is emphasizing that these idols are not really alive. You can make clear the implied information. AT: "People have given mouths to those idols" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

false god

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.