Deuteronomy 18:12
in Deuteronomy 18For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah: and because of these abominations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
KJV
For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 18
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD
on Deuteronomy 18:12-13
The dispossession is given a stated ground, and it is these practices. Genesis 15:16 held the land back until the iniquity of the Amorites was full. Leviticus 18:24-25 has the land vomiting out its people for the same acts.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord,....
A promise is given them of the spirit of prophecy to continue among them, and to centre at last in Christ the great prophet,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations--(See on Le 18:21; In spite of this express command, the people of Canaan, especially the Philistines, were a constant snare and stumbling block to the Israelites, on account of their divinations and superstitious practices. CHRIST THE PROPHET IS TO BE HEARD.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
כל אלה עשה [FOR] ALL THAT DO THESE THINGS [ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO THE LORD] — it does not say, “he who does all these things”, but “all who do these things” — who do even only one of them (Sifrei Devarim:1; cf. Makkot 24a).
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The meaning thereof is that we are to direct our hearts to Him only, and believe that He alone does everything. It is He Who knows the truth about all future events, and from His prophets, or from His pious ones, in other words the Urim and Thummim.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תוֹעֲבַ֥ת | toavat | [is] [the] abomination of | H8441 → | 117 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֹ֣שֵׂה | ʾoseh | [one who] does | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֵ֑לֶּה | ʾeleh | <of> these [things] | H428 → | 746 times |
| וּבִגְלַל֙ | uviglal | and on account of | H1558 → | 10 times |
| הַתּוֹעֵבֹ֣ת | hatoevot | the abominations | H8441 → | 117 times |
| הָאֵ֔לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| מוֹרִ֥ישׁ | morish | [is] about to dispossess | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אוֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃ | mipaneikha | from before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
תוֹעֲבַ֥ת[is] [the] abomination of
toavatH8441 →117 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֹ֣שֵׂה[one who] does
ʾosehH6213 →2628 times
אֵ֑לֶּה<of> these [things]
ʾelehH428 →746 times
וּבִגְלַל֙and on account of
uviglalH1558 →10 times
הַתּוֹעֵבֹ֣תthe abominations
hatoevotH8441 →117 times
הָאֵ֔לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
מוֹרִ֥ישׁ[is] about to dispossess
morishH3423 →231 times
אוֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃from before you
mipaneikhaH6440 →2123 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 18:24Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:30
You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”
- Leviticus 20:22–23
You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.
- Leviticus 18:3
You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you.…
- Leviticus 18:30
Through
Deuteronomy 9:4When the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the LORD…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:17
You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
- Deuteronomy 9:5
It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving…
- 2 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
- Deuteronomy 18:9–14
When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
- 1 Corinthians 4:7
For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
- Deuteronomy 8:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies15
On this chapter
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.