Deuteronomy 6:14
in Deuteronomy 6Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples that are round about you;
KJV
Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
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This verse in Deuteronomy 6
Commentary
4 notes on this verseYe shall not go after other gods - The object of religious worship among every people, whether that object be true or false, is ever considered as the pattern or exemplar to his worshippers. Christians are termed the followers of God; they take God for their pattern, and walk - act, as he does. Hence we see the meaning of the terms in this verse: Ye shall not go after - ye shall not take false gods for your patterns.
This site's exposition
Ye shall not go after other gods
on Deuteronomy 6:14-15
The gods forbidden are named as the gods of the people which are round about you, so what is in view is the neighbours' religion rather than a philosophy. Jealous is the word God used of himself at Exodus 20:5, in the first thing he said about himself at Sinai. Verse 15 puts the reason inside a parenthesis and the consequence outside it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): You shall not go after other gods, that is, "You shall not serve nor worship them;" for therein they went astray, they went a whoring from the true God, who in this, more than in any thing, is jealous god (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Ye shall not go after other gods,.... To serve and worship them, and swear by them; and which indeed are no gods, only nominal and fictitious ones; idols which are nothing in the world, and ought to have no veneration and adoration given them; to go after them is to worship them, and this is to depart from the true God, and go a whoring after false deities: of the gods of the people which are round about you; the gods of the Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines, and Egyptians; all of which had their peculiar deities.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The purport thereof is that after he commanded concerning the love of G-d, he mentioned that [one is] to fear Him so that he not sin and be punished.
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֵֽלְכ֔וּן | telekhun | you will walk ! | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֖י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֣ים | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֑ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| מֵאֱלֹהֵי֙ | meelohei | any of [the] gods of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הָֽעַמִּ֔ים | haamim | the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| סְבִיבוֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ | sevivoteikhem | [are] around you | H5439 → | 336 times |
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֵֽלְכ֔וּןyou will walk !
telekhunH1980 →1546 times
אַחֲרֵ֖יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
אֱלֹהִ֣יםgods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֑יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
מֵאֱלֹהֵי֙any of [the] gods of
meeloheiH430 →2601 times
הָֽעַמִּ֔יםthe peoples
haamimH5971 →1873 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
סְבִיבוֹתֵיכֶֽם׃[are] around you
sevivoteikhemH5439 →336 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 John 5:21Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:14
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
- 1 Corinthians 10:7
Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.”
- Exodus 20:3–4
You shall have no other gods before Me.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16–17
What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and…
- Matthew 6:13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
- 1 Corinthians 10:14
Through
Deuteronomy 8:19If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:26
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…
- Deuteronomy 4:26
Through
Jeremiah 25:6Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:19
If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
- Deuteronomy 8:19
Through
Deuteronomy 11:28but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:15–68
If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Deuteronomy 28:15–68
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this chapter
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the 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.