ירמיהו, פרק י׳, פסוק י״א

Deep within the prophecies of Jeremiah lies a unique statement serving as a sharp defense against idol worship. It stands out by being recorded entirely in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. The primary approach among commentators is that this message is actually a letter sent by the prophet to the Jewish exiles in Babylon [רש״י, מצודת דוד, רד״ק, שטיינזלץ]. The instruction was intentionally crafted in Aramaic, the local language of the Babylonian empire, to arm the exiled Jews with a clear and decisive response in the native tongue of their captors. Should the Babylonians ever pressure them to participate in idol worship, the Jews would have a ready answer. To maintain a single, uniform language throughout the statement, even the introductory phrase telling the people how to respond was kept in Aramaic [רד״ק].

Offering a different perspective, another viewpoint suggests that this was not a specific letter to the exiles, as no such document is explicitly mentioned [אברבנאל]. Rather, it captures a recurring argument Jeremiah used during his own debates with gentile scholars who worshipped the stars. Because these theological disputes were naturally conducted in Aramaic, the argument was recorded in that same language.

The central theological claim is straightforward: the false gods of the nations did not create the heavens and the earth. Because they are not the creators, they are entirely unworthy of fear or worship, and their ultimate fate is to be wiped out of existence [רד״ק, אברבנאל, שטיינזלץ]. Building on this logic, a further layer addresses a potential counter-argument from the idolaters [מלבי״ם]. Even if the gentiles were to claim that their gods created other, distant worlds, they undeniably had no hand in creating our current reality. Whether viewing the earth as the deep, firm ground below or as a body in continuous motion, these false deities did not form it. Consequently, they have no place or right to exist within our world. They are destined to perish from this earth and from under these heavens, banished back to whatever realms they supposedly came from, establishing that God is the only true Creator of the world.