Exodus 34:13
11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
15 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;
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, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 7:5
But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
Read in contextExodus 23:24
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.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 7:25–26
The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 12:2–3
Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
Read in contextDeuteronomy 16:21
Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Read in context2 Kings 23:14
And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
Read in context2 Chronicles 34:3–4
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
Read in context