Deuteronomy 4:16

Deuteronomy 4:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
• New International Version (NIV)so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,
• English Standard Version (ESV)beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
• New King James Version (NKJV)lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,

Context of Deuteronomy 4:16

14At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess. 15“Diligently watch yourselves — because you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb — so you don’t act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form, 17or the form of any animal on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky, 18any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth.

Deuteronomy 4:16 word by word

פֶּ֨ן־תַּשְׁחִת֔וּן וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥ם לָכֶ֛ם פֶּ֖סֶל תְּמוּנַ֣ת כָּל־סָ֑מֶל תַּבְנִ֥ית זָכָ֖ר א֥וֹ נְקֵבָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Lest ye corruptשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
• and makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• you a graven imageפֶּ֫סֶלpesel · idolH6459
• the similitudeתְּמוּנָהtemûnâh temûnâh · likenessH8544
• of any figureסֶ֫מֶלsemel sêmel · idolH5566
• the likenessתַּבְנִיתtabnîyth · patternH8403
• of maleזָכָרzâkâr · maleH2145
• or femaleנְקֵבָהneqêbâh · femaleH5347

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 4:16

• Deuteronomy 4:8And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?
• Exodus 20:4Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
• Exodus 32:7The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly.
• Psalms 106:19At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped the cast metal image.
• Romans 1:22Claiming to be wise, they became fools
• Deuteronomy 4:23Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you.
• Isaiah 40:18With whom will you compare God? What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?
• John 4:24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”
• Acts 17:29Since, then, we are God’s offspring, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.
• Acts 20:4He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
• 1 Timothy 1:17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 4:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16The likeness of male or female - Such as Baal-peor and the Roman Priapus, Ashtaroth or Astarte, and the Greek and Roman Venus; after whom most nations of the world literally went a whoring.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16idol: Idolatry limited the Lord to what a human artist could imagine and make. But the Lord is greater than anything a person can create. Israel was not to make idols shaped like any of God’s creatures (4:17–18). This command protected the people from false worship. Idols and images could lead people to worship created things instead of the Creator (5:8–9; Romans 1:23–25). Instead of honoring the God who made everything, they might honor something he made.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-1916-19. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image--The things are here specified of which God prohibited any image or representation to be made for the purposes of worship; and, from the variety of details entered into, an idea may be formed of the extensive prevalence of idolatry in that age. In whatever way idolatry originated, whether from an intention to worship the true God through those things which seemed to afford the strongest…Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 4:16

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Idolatry
• Obedience

In the dictionaries

• Graven image
• Add
• Consider
• Consuming
• Diminish
• Furnace
• Hearken
• Idol
• Deuteronomy
• Figure

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 4

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings