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Exodus 34:15

in Exodus 34

Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice;

KJV

Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

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This verse in Exodus 34

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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

Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land

on Exodus 34:15-16

These two verses lay out a sequence, from a treaty to sacrifices, an invitation, eating, marriage, and daughters who lead the sons to their gods. At 1 Kings 11:1 to 8 a king walks the whole sequence.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The way of sin is downhill: those that are in league with idolaters will come by degrees to be in love with idolatry; and those that are prevailed upon to eat of the idolatrous sacrifice will come at length to offer it.

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.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Exodus 34:14:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

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

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.

  • פֶּן־lest

    pen-H6435 →133 times

  • תִּכְרֹ֥תyou should make

    tikhrotH3772 →288 times

  • בְּרִ֖יתa covenant

    beritH1285 →284 times

  • לְיוֹשֵׁ֣בto [the] inhabitant[s] of

    leyoshevH3427 →1079 times

  • הָאָ֑רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וְזָנ֣וּ׀and they will prostitute themselves

    vezanuH2181 →94 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֣יafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֗םgods their

    ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 times

  • וְזָבְחוּ֙and they will sacrifice

    vezavechuH2076 →134 times

  • לֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔םto gods their

    leloheihemH430 →2601 times

  • וְקָרָ֣אand someone will invite

    vekara'H7121 →733 times

  • לְךָ֔<to> <the> you

    lekha

  • וְאָכַלְתָּ֖and you will eat

    veakhaltaH398 →810 times

  • מִזִּבְחֽוֹ׃some of sacrifice his

    mizivchoH2077 →162 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!”25 worksDeuteronomy 31:16And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.8 worksLeviticus 17:7They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’7 worksExodus 23:32You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.7 worksJudges 2:17Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done.6 worksPsalms 106:28They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.5 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Corinthians 8:4So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.5 worksNumbers 25:2who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.5 worksPsalms 73:27Those far from You will surely perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.5 works1 Corinthians 8:10For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols?4 works1 Corinthians 10:27If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience.4 worksRevelation 2:20But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.4 worksExodus 34:12Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.3 worksLeviticus 20:5–6then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.3 worksJeremiah 3:9Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.3 works1 Corinthians 10:20–21No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.3 works1 Corinthians 8:7But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.3 works1 Chronicles 5:25They were mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of their families. But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and they prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.3 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

    1 Corinthians 8:4

    So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 10:19–20

      Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Deuteronomy 4:39

      Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.

    • Ephesians 4:6

      one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 31:16

    And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will…

    it leads to

    • Judges 10:6

      And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus…

    • Judges 10:13

      But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.

    • Judges 2:12

      Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down…

  • Through

    Psalms 106:28

    They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

    it leads to

    • Hosea 9:10

      I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Numbers 25:2

    who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 10:20

      No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies27

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About Exodus

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 34 →

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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 34 →