Deuteronomy 7:5
in Deuteronomy 7Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.
KJV
But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
See Deu 6:10 note. Deu 7:5 Their groves - Render, their idols of wood: the reference is to the wooden trunk used as a representation of Ashtaroth; see Deu 7:13 and Exo 34:13 note. Deu 7:7 The fewest of all people - God chose for Himself Israel, when as yet but a single family, or rather a single person, Abraham; though there were already numerous nations and powerful kingdoms in the earth. Increase Deu 1:10; Deu 10:22 had taken place because of the very blessing of God spoken of in Deu 7:
This site's exposition
Neither shalt thou make marriages
on Deuteronomy 7:3-5
The marriage prohibition carries its reason in the next breath, that they will turn away thy son from following me. 1 Kings 11:1-4 reports that outcome in Solomon, whose wives turned away his heart in his old age, and Ezra 9:1-2 and Nehemiah 13:23-27 both reach back to this passage in the same connection. Verse 5 turns from the people to the apparatus of their worship, altars, images, groves and graven images, and Exodus 34:12-16 had already set the same three together, no covenant, no marriage, and broken images.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
When you have received lawful authority, do all this. Where authority has not been given to us, we don't do it; where it has been given, we don't fail to do it. Many pagans have these abominations on their estates. Do we march in and smash them? The first thing we try to do is to break the idols in their hearts. When they too become Christians, they either invite us in to perform this good work or else they get in first with it before us. The thing we have to do now is pray for them, not get angry with them.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Their altars and pillars, their groves and graven images, all must be destroyed, both in a holy indignation against idolatry and to prevent infection. This command was given before, Exod. xxiii. A great deal of good work of this kind was done by the people, in their pious zeal ( 2 Chron. xxxi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
But thus shall ye deal with them,.... The inhabitants of the land of Canaan: ye shall destroy their altars; on which they sacrificed to their idols: and break down their images; of their gods, and the statues and pillars erected to the honour of them: and cut down their groves; sacred to idols, which were usually planted on hills, and about Heathen temples, and under which idols were placed to be worshipped.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It was imitated by the Scottish Reformers, and although many ardent lovers of architecture and the fine arts have anathematized their proceedings as vandalism, yet there was profound wisdom in the favorite maxim of Knox--"pull down the nests, and the rooks will disappear."
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
If they were to be swept away like the antediluvians or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, as incorrigible sinners who had filled up the measure of their iniquities, it mattered not to them in what way the judgment was inflicted; and God, as the Sovereign Disposer, had a right to employ any instruments that pleased Him for executing His judgments.
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 |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | |
| תַעֲשׂוּ֙ | taasu | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָהֶ֔ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| מִזְבְּחֹתֵיהֶ֣ם | mizbechoteihem | altars their | H4196 → | 401 times |
| תִּתֹּ֔צוּ | titotzu | you will break down | H5422 → | |
| וּמַצֵּבֹתָ֖ם | umatzevotam | and sacred pillars their | H4676 → | 32 times |
| תְּשַׁבֵּ֑רוּ | teshaberu | you will shatter | H7665 → | 147 times |
| וַאֲשֵֽׁירֵהֶם֙ | vaasheirehem | and Asherah poles their | H842 → | 40 times |
| תְּגַדֵּע֔וּן | tegadeun | you will cut down ! | H1438 → | |
| וּפְסִילֵיהֶ֖ם | ufesileihem | and images their | H6456 → | 23 times |
| תִּשְׂרְפ֥וּן | tisrefun | you will burn ! | H8313 → | 117 times |
| בָּאֵֽשׁ׃ | baesh | with <the> fire | H784 → | 378 times |
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →
תַעֲשׂוּ֙you will do
taasuH6213 →2628 times
לָהֶ֔םto <the> them
lahem
מִזְבְּחֹתֵיהֶ֣םaltars their
mizbechoteihemH4196 →401 times
תִּתֹּ֔צוּyou will break down
titotzuH5422 →
וּמַצֵּבֹתָ֖םand sacred pillars their
umatzevotamH4676 →32 times
תְּשַׁבֵּ֑רוּyou will shatter
teshaberuH7665 →147 times
וַאֲשֵֽׁירֵהֶם֙and Asherah poles their
vaasheirehemH842 →40 times
תְּגַדֵּע֔וּןyou will cut down !
tegadeunH1438 →
וּפְסִילֵיהֶ֖םand images their
ufesileihemH6456 →23 times
תִּשְׂרְפ֥וּןyou will burn !
tisrefunH8313 →117 times
בָּאֵֽשׁ׃with <the> fire
baeshH784 →378 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
Deuteronomy 7:25You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it…
it leads to
- Exodus 32:20
Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 17:1
You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep with any defect or serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God.
- Exodus 32:20
Through
Exodus 23:24You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:3
Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth…
- Deuteronomy 12:30–31
be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
- Numbers 33:52
you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
- Deuteronomy 12:3
Through
Exodus 34:13Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites…
- 2 Kings 18:4
Through
Deuteronomy 16:22and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:1
“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am…
- Leviticus 26:1
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 62.17; 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.