Exodus 34:13
11 Observe what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
12 Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
14 For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15 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.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- KJV
- But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
- WEB
- but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherah poles;
- ASV
- but ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their Asherim;
- DARBY
- but ye shall demolish their altars, shatter their statues, and hew down their Asherahs.
- BLB
- But their altars you⁺ shall break down, and their pillars you⁺ shall smash, and their Asherah poles you⁺ shall cut down.
- ÅB
- Dere skal rive ned deres altere, og dere skal slå i stykker deres billedstøtter, og dere skal hugge ned deres Astartebilder[^1].
- OTB
- I stedet skal dere rive ned deres altere, knuse deres hellige steiner og hogge ned deres Asjera-pæler.
- B1930
- I skal rive ned deres altere, og I skal slå i stykker deres billedstøtter, og I skal hugge ned deres Astarte-billeder. / < et slags avgudsbilleder.>
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
2 Kings 18:4
He 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.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 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.
Read in contextExodus 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.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 7:25–26
You 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.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 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.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 16:21
Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,
Read in context2 Kings 23:14
He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.
Read in context2 Chronicles 34:3–4
In 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.
Read in context