Deuteronomy 4:16
in Deuteronomy 4that 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,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
KJV
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
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This verse in Deuteronomy 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe likeness of male or female - Such as Baal-peor and the Roman Priapus, Ashtaroth or Astarte, and the Greek and Roman Venus; after whom most nations of the world literally went a whoring.
This site's exposition
So since you saw no form of any kind
on Deuteronomy 4:15-18
The list runs down from "male or female" through beast, bird and crawling creature to fish, retracing the order of Genesis 1. Paul traces the same descent at Romans 1:23, "images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles."
This site's exposition
act corruptly and make an idol
Making an image is called acting corruptly, so the offence is reckoned as ruin to the one who makes it. Matthew Henry reasons that those who picture God form notions of him that open the way to every impiety.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The intention of the law was that in everything they should look toward what is real. They should not make up things which are different from reality or misrepresent what is truly male or what is really female, or the nature of beasts or the species of birds or creeping things, or fishes.
We create other images in ourselves instead of the Savior's image. Instead of being the image of the Word, or of wisdom, justice, and the rest of the virtues, we assume the form of the devil. Then we can be called "serpents" and "a generation of vipers." When we are venomous, cruel or wily, we have taken on the character of the lion, the snake or the fox. When we are prone to pleasure, we are like the goat.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Lest ye corrupt yourselves,....
Two sorts of idolatry he cautions them against:-- [1.] The worship of images, however by them they might intend to worship the true God, as they had done in the golden calf, so changing the truth of God into a lie and his glory into shame. The second commandment is expressly directed against this, and is here enlarged upon,
"Take heed lest you corrupt yourselves, " that is, "lest you debauch yourselves;" for those that think to make images of God form in their minds such notions of him as must needs be an inlet to all impieties; and it is intimated that it is a spiritual adultery.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This was particularly the case with the Canaanites and Egyptians, against whose superstitious practices the caution, no doubt, was chiefly directed. The former worshipped Baal and Astarte, the latter Osiris and Isis, under the figure of a male and a female.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He warns them lest they mistakenly follow the voice they heard and they commit the corruption of “mutilating the shoots.” 64 This consists of separating any of the Ten Emanations and worshipping it independently. See Vol. II p., Note.
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. 4 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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פֶּ֨ן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| תַּשְׁחִת֔וּן | tashchitun | you should act corruptly ! | H7843 → | 146 times |
| וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥ם | vaasitem | and you will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָכֶ֛ם | lakhem | for yourselves | ||
| פֶּ֖סֶל | pesel | an image of | H6459 → | 31 times |
| תְּמוּנַ֣ת | temunat | a form of | H8544 → | 10 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| סָ֑מֶל | samel | figure | H5566 → | |
| תַּבְנִ֥ית | tavnit | a likeness of | H8403 → | 20 times |
| זָכָ֖ר | zakhar | a male | H2145 → | |
| א֥וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| נְקֵבָֽה׃ | nekevah | a female | H5347 → |
פֶּ֨ן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
תַּשְׁחִת֔וּןyou should act corruptly !
tashchitunH7843 →146 times
וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥םand you will make
vaasitemH6213 →2628 times
לָכֶ֛םfor yourselves
lakhem
פֶּ֖סֶלan image of
peselH6459 →31 times
תְּמוּנַ֣תa form of
temunatH8544 →10 times
כָּל־any
kol-H3605 →5413 times
סָ֑מֶלfigure
samelH5566 →
תַּבְנִ֥יתa likeness of
tavnitH8403 →20 times
זָכָ֖רa male
zakharH2145 →
א֥וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
נְקֵבָֽה׃a female
nekevahH5347 →
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 5:8You 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.
it leads to
- Exodus 20:4
You 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 4:15–19
So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful
- Exodus 20:4
Through
Acts 17:29Therefore, 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.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:25
“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Isaiah 46:5–6
To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
- Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Habakkuk 2:19–20
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
- Isaiah 40:25
Through
Deuteronomy 4:23Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
- Ezekiel 16:59
For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
- Deuteronomy 4:9
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, AGAINST CELSUS 4.31 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8:3.