Wisdom 13:10
But unhappy are they, and their hope is among the dead, who have called gods the works of the hands of men, gold and silver, the inventions of art, and the resemblances of beasts, or an unprofitable stone the work of an ancient hand.
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- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Infelices autem sunt, et inter mortuos spes illorum est, qui appellaverunt deos opera manuum hominum : aurum et argentum, artis inventionem, et similitudines animalium, aut lapidem inutilem, opus manus antiquæ.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Ταλαίπωροι δὲ καὶ ἐν νεκροῖς αἱ ἐλπίδες αὐτῶν, οἵτινες ἐκάλεσαν θεοὺς ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων, χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον, τέχνης ἐμμελέτημα, καὶ ἀπεικάσματα ζῴων, ἢ λίθον ἄχρηστον, χειρὸς ἔργον ἀρχαίας.
Haydock's commentary
Of men. The pagans in general took the material statue to be the residence of a god. (St. Augustine, City of God chap. vii. 6., and viii. 13.)
The more learned regarded the figures of the sun, &c., as his representations, while others supposed that Jupiter meant the heavens, Juno the air, Vulcan, fire, &c.
Hand. This is to abuse antiquity. The idol of the Arabs was a rough stone. In more polished nations, the workmanship of Praxiteles, Phidias, &c., was more regarded. (Calmet)
As no creature deserves to be esteemed a god, much less do the works of men's hands. (Worthington)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.