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Exodus 23:24

in Exodus 23

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their pillars.

KJV

Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

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This verse in Exodus 23

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Break down their images - מצבתיהם matstsebotheyhem, from נצב natsab, to stand up; pillars, anointed stones, etc., such as the baitulia. See Clarke on Gen 28:18 (note).

This site's exposition

You must not bow down to their gods

Bowing to the gods of the land, serving them and copying their works are forbidden together, and the order goes past refusal to demolition. The Hebrew root behind serve here is the one Exodus 1:13 used for the bondage, and verse 25 uses it of serving the LORD.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

They must not only not worship their gods, but they must utterly overthrow them, in token of their great abhorrence of idolatry, their resolution never to worship idols themselves, and their care to prevent any other from worshipping them; as the converted conjurors burnt their books, Acts xix. How rich the particulars of this promise are.
Thou shalt not bow down to their gods,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way--The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֤הyou must bow down

    tishtachavehH7812 →172 times

  • לֵאלֹֽהֵיהֶם֙to gods their

    leloheihemH430 →2601 times

  • וְלֹ֣אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תָֽעָבְדֵ֔םyou must be enticed to serve them

    taavedemH5647 →288 times

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תַעֲשֶׂ֖הyou must make

    taasehH6213 →2628 times

  • כְּמַֽעֲשֵׂיהֶ֑םlike works their

    kemaaseihemH4639 →236 times

  • כִּ֤יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • הָרֵס֙completely <tear down>

    haresH2040 →43 times

  • תְּהָ֣רְסֵ֔םyou will tear down them

    teharesemH2040 →43 times

  • וְשַׁבֵּ֥רand totally <shatter>

    veshaberH7665 →147 times

  • תְּשַׁבֵּ֖רyou will shatter into pieces

    teshaberH7665 →147 times

  • מַצֵּבֹתֵיהֶֽם׃sacred pillars their

    matzevoteihemH4676 →32 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Joshua 24:15But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”42 worksExodus 20:5You 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 generations of those who hate Me,8 worksNumbers 33:52you 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.8 worksLeviticus 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 the LORD your God.8 worksDeuteronomy 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.7 worksLeviticus 18:3You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.7 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Deuteronomy 12:30–31be 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.”6 worksExodus 34:13Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.5 worksDeuteronomy 12:3Tear 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.4 works2 Kings 23:14He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.4 worksExodus 32:20Then 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 it.3 works2 Chronicles 33:9So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.3 works2 Kings 3:2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He removed the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.3 works2 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 had burned incense to it.3 worksLeviticus 18:26–30But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you.2 works2 Chronicles 34:3–7In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.2 worksEzekiel 16:47And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.2 worksDeuteronomy 7:25–26You 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 is detestable to the LORD your God.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 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…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 5:9

      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 14:18

      ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon…

    • Deuteronomy 4:24

      For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

    • Exodus 34:14

      For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

    • Joshua 24:19

      But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 7:5

    Instead, 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

    • 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.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    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.

    it leads to

    • Judges 2:2

      and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 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…

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 23 →

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; 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.

Read on in Exodus 23 →