Deuteronomy 12:3

Deuteronomy 12:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
• New International Version (NIV)Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.

Context of Deuteronomy 12:3

1These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess. 2Destroy 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. Tear 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. 4You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way. 5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

Deuteronomy 12:3 word by word

וְנִתַּצְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־מִזְבּחֹתָ֗ם וְשִׁבַּרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־מַצֵּ֣בֹתָ֔ם וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙ תִּשְׂרְפ֣וּן בָּאֵ֔שׁ וּפְסִילֵ֥י אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֖ם תְּגַדֵּע֑וּן וְאִבַּדְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־שְׁמָ֔ם מִן־הַמָּק֖וֹם הַהֽוּא׃Read the interlinear

• Tear downנָתַץnâthats · to tearH5422
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• their altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• smashשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• their sacred pillarsמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
• burn upשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
• burn upאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
• their Asherah polesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• cut downגָּדַעgâda‛ · to cut down/offH1438
• the idolsפָּסִילpesîyl · idolH6456
• of their godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and wipe outאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• their namesשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• fromמִן־min minnîy minnêy · fromH4480
• every placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
• every placeהוּאhû' hîy' · he/she/itH1931

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 12:3

• Numbers 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.
• Judges 2:2and 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?
• 2 Chronicles 31:1When 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 altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.
• 1 Kings 15:13He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
• 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 had burned incense to it.
• 2 Kings 23:14He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.
• 2 Chronicles 14:3He removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and chopped down the Asherah poles.
• 2 Chronicles 19:3However, some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land and have set your heart on seeking God.”
• 2 Chronicles 34:3In 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.
• Jeremiah 17:2Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.
• Micah 5:14I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.
• Exodus 23:13Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.
• Psalms 16:4Sorrows will multiply to those who chase other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood, or speak their names with my lips.
• Hosea 2:17For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.
• Zechariah 13:2And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.
• Revelation 13:1Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 12:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Ye shall overthrow their altars - Where unholy sacrifices have been offered; and break their pillars, probably meaning statues and representations of their gods cut out of stone; and burn their groves, such as those about the temple of Ashtaroth, the Canaanitish Venus, whose impure rites were practiced in different parts of the enclosures or groves round her temples; and ye shall hew down the graven images, probably implying all images carved out of wood…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Their groves - Render their idols of wood: and see the Deuteronomy 7:5 note.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3sacred pillars: See study note on 7:5. Asherah poles: They dedicated these wooden poles to the mother goddess, Asherah. They were the feminine counterpart to the sacred pillar. wipe out their names: Destroying all idols and traces of pagan worship would lead to the names of these gods being forgotten. Future generations would not know about them (see also study note on 7:24).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. And ye shall overthrow their altars--piles of turf or small stones. and break their pillars--Before the art of sculpture was known, the statues of idols were only rude blocks of colored stones.Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 12:3

• Iconoclasm
• Pillar

In the dictionaries

• High place
• Idolatry
• Lust
• Rest
• Atonement, Day of
• Criticism
• Deuteronomy
• Exodus, the Book of
• Fire
• Genesis

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings