They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.
Parallel translations
- WEB Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.
- KJV Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
- NKJV Thus they changed their glory Into the image of an ox that eats grass.
- NASB So they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass.
- NLT They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They traded their glory for the image of a grass-eating ox. It matters because idolatry exchanges the glorious God for something worthless.
Overview
The psalmist laments that Israel swapped the glory of God for a mere animal idol (Exodus 32). The absurdity is stark: the living God for a beast that eats grass. Paul echoes this folly in Romans 1:23, showing idolatry as a tragic, irrational exchange that only Christ can undo.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Jer 2:11Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- Rom 1:22–23Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- Exod 20:4–5You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Ps 89:17For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted.
- Isa 40:18–25To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 106:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.