Deuteronomy 4:25
in Deuteronomy 4After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, to provoke him to anger;
KJV
When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 4
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
After you have children and grandchildren
on Deuteronomy 4:25-26
Moses calls "heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day," as a treaty does when no higher court exists, and he repeats the call at 30:19, 31:28 and 32:1. The offence he foresees comes when "you have been in the land a long time," so the danger belongs to security. The phrase this day falls seventy times in the book, keeping the covenant present for every hearer.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When thou shall beget children, and children's children,....
Here, [1.] He foresees their revolt from God to idols, that in process of time, when they had remained long in the land and were settled upon their lees, they would corrupt themselves, and make a graven image; this was the sin that would most easily beset them,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Compare with these verses Lev 26:33-40, and Deu 28:64 ff.
The words behind it
18 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- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תוֹלִ֤יד | tolid | you will father | H3205 → | 496 times |
| בָּנִים֙ | banim | children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבְנֵ֣י | uvenei | and children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בָנִ֔ים | vanim | children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּ֖ם | venoshantem | and you will grow old | H3462 → | |
| בָּאָ֑רֶץ | baaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְהִשְׁחַתֶּ֗ם | vehishchatem | and you will act corruptly | H7843 → | 146 times |
| וַעֲשִׂ֤יתֶם | vaasitem | and you will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| פֶּ֙סֶל֙ | pesel | an image of | H6459 → | 31 times |
| תְּמ֣וּנַת | temunat | a form of | H8544 → | 10 times |
| כֹּ֔ל | kol | anything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥ם | vaasitem | and you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הָרַ֛ע | hara' | the evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בְּעֵינֵ֥י | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יְהוָֽה־ | yahweh- | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְהַכְעִיסֽוֹ׃ | lehakhiso | to provoke to anger him | H3707 → | 54 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
תוֹלִ֤ידyou will father
tolidH3205 →496 times
בָּנִים֙children
banimH1121 →4930 times
וּבְנֵ֣יand children of
uveneiH1121 →4930 times
בָנִ֔יםchildren
vanimH1121 →4930 times
וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּ֖םand you will grow old
venoshantemH3462 →
בָּאָ֑רֶץin the land
baaretzH776 →2504 times
וְהִשְׁחַתֶּ֗םand you will act corruptly
vehishchatemH7843 →146 times
וַעֲשִׂ֤יתֶםand you will make
vaasitemH6213 →2628 times
פֶּ֙סֶל֙an image of
peselH6459 →31 times
תְּמ֣וּנַתa form of
temunatH8544 →10 times
כֹּ֔לanything
kolH3605 →5413 times
וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥םand you will do
vaasitemH6213 →2628 times
הָרַ֛עthe evil
hara'H7451 →662 times
בְּעֵינֵ֥יin [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
יְהוָֽה־Yahweh
yahweh-H3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
לְהַכְעִיסֽוֹ׃to provoke to anger him
lehakhisoH3707 →54 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
1 Corinthians 10:22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:21
They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will…
- Deuteronomy 32:16
They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
- Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- Deuteronomy 32:21
Through
Hosea 9:9They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
it leads to
- Hosea 10:9
Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?
- Judges 19:16
That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was residing in Gibeah (the men of that place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the field.
- Hosea 10:9
Through
Exodus 32:7Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
it leads to
- Exodus 32:11
But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and…
- Hosea 9:9
They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
- Exodus 32:11
Through
Deuteronomy 4:16that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
it leads to
- Acts 17:29
Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
- Acts 17:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.
