Exodus 34:13
in Exodus 34Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their Asherim;
KJV
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
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This verse in Exodus 34
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Moses bowed . . . and worshipped--In the East, people bow the head to royalty, and are silent when it passes by, while in the West, they take off their hats and shout.
This site's exposition
Be careful not to make a treaty
on Exodus 34:12-13
In verse 10 God makes a covenant, and verse 12 forbids Israel to make one, so the same word carries the promise and the prohibition. The danger named is a snare, a trap a man walks into.
This site's exposition
chop down their Asherah poles
The Israelites must tear down the altars, sacred stones and Asherah poles of the land, since the LORD is a jealous God. Albert Barnes notes that this is the first mention of the Asherah in Scripture. The same command returns at Deuteronomy 7:5.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the L ORD thy God thrice in the year. 25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v24-25
But ye shall destroy their altars,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Ye shall destroy their images - See the subjects of this and all the following verses, to Exo 34:28, treated at large in the notes on Exodus 23 (note).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
[A JEALOUS GOD.] Scripture mentions a jealous God here as it does in the Decalogue.
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִזְבְּחֹתָם֙ | mizbechotam | altars their | H4196 → | 401 times |
| תִּתֹּצ֔וּן | titotzun | you will pull down ! | H5422 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַצֵּבֹתָ֖ם | matzevotam | sacred pillars their | H4676 → | 32 times |
| תְּשַׁבֵּר֑וּן | teshaberun | you will break down ! | H7665 → | 147 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֵׁרָ֖יו | ʾasherav | Asherah poles its | H842 → | |
| תִּכְרֹתֽוּן׃ | tikhrotun | you will cut down ! | H3772 → | 288 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִזְבְּחֹתָם֙altars their
mizbechotamH4196 →401 times
תִּתֹּצ֔וּןyou will pull down !
titotzunH5422 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
מַצֵּבֹתָ֖םsacred pillars their
matzevotamH4676 →32 times
תְּשַׁבֵּר֑וּןyou will break down !
teshaberunH7665 →147 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֵׁרָ֖יוAsherah poles its
ʾasheravH842 →
תִּכְרֹתֽוּן׃you will cut down !
tikhrotunH3772 →288 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
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
- 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…
- 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 12:30–31
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.”
- Exodus 20:5
Through
2 Kings 18:4He 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…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 31:1
When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and…
- Numbers 21:8–9
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”
- 2 Chronicles 31:1
Through
Deuteronomy 7:5Instead, 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.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:24
You 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.
- Deuteronomy 12:2–3
Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Exodus 23:24
Through
Deuteronomy 16:21Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 33:3
For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of…
- 2 Chronicles 33:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.