Deuteronomy 7:4
in Deuteronomy 7because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and he will destroy thee quickly.
KJV
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA 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.
This site's exposition
Do not intermarry with them
on Deuteronomy 7:3-5
The ban on marriage carries its reason at once, "they will turn your sons away from following Me". Solomon shows the outcome at 1 Kings 11:1-4, and Ezra 9:1-2 and Nehemiah 13:23-27 reach back to this passage.
This site's exposition
He will swiftly destroy you
The verse's second half turns the warning on Israel: the destruction ordered for the nations would fall on the people who took up their gods. John Wesley reads the reason given as setting the edge of the marriage law.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
To serve other Gods - That is, there is manifest danger of apostacy and idolatry from such matches. Which reason doth both limit the law to such of these as are unconverted (otherwise Salmon married Rahab, Matt. i, 5) and enlarge it to other idolatrous nations, as appears from 1 Kings xi, 2 Ezra ix, 2 Neh. xiii, 23.
Those that in choosing yokefellows keep not at least within the bounds of a justifiable profession of religion cannot promise themselves helps meet for them. One of the Chaldee paraphrases adds here, as a reason of this command (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For they will turn away thy son from following me,....
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- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָסִ֤יר | yasir | he will turn aside | H5493 → | 299 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בִּנְךָ֙ | binkha | son your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מֵֽאַחֲרַ֔י | meacharai | from after me | H310 → | 715 times |
| וְעָבְד֖וּ | veavedu | and they will serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֣ים | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֑ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| וְחָרָ֤ה | vecharah | and it will burn | H2734 → | 91 times |
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | [the] anger of | H639 → | 276 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בָּכֶ֔ם | bakhem | on <the> you | ||
| וְהִשְׁמִידְךָ֖ | vehishmidekha | and he will destroy you | H8045 → | 90 times |
| מַהֵֽר׃ | maher | quickly | H4118 → | 14 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יָסִ֤ירhe will turn aside
yasirH5493 →299 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בִּנְךָ֙son your
binkhaH1121 →4930 times
מֵֽאַחֲרַ֔יfrom after me
meacharaiH310 →715 times
וְעָבְד֖וּand they will serve
veaveduH5647 →288 times
אֱלֹהִ֣יםgods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֑יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
וְחָרָ֤הand it will burn
vecharahH2734 →91 times
אַף־[the] anger of
ʾaf-H639 →276 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בָּכֶ֔םon <the> you
bakhem
וְהִשְׁמִידְךָ֖and he will destroy you
vehishmidekhaH8045 →90 times
מַהֵֽר׃quickly
maherH4118 →14 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 4:26I 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,…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:1
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
- Micah 6:2
Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
- Jeremiah 22:29
O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
- Jeremiah 2:12
Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 30:18–19
I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
- Deuteronomy 32:1
Through
Deuteronomy 6:15For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- 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 4:24
Through
Judges 2:11And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.
it leads to
- Judges 3:7
So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
- Judges 3:7
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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.