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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!

Context of Deuteronomy 12:3

1"These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 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. 4You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. 5But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• And ye shall overthrowנָתַץnâthats · to tearH5422
• their altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• and breakשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• their pillarsמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
• and burnשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
• their grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• with fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
• and ye shall hew downגָּדַעgâda‛ · to cut down/offH1438
• the graven imagesפָּסִילpesîyl · idolH6456
• of their godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and destroyאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• the namesשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• of them out of that placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 12:3

• Numbers 33:52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.
• Judges 2:2and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?
• 2 Chronicles 31:1Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.
• 1 Kings 15:13He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.
• 2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).
• 2 Kings 23:14And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.
• 2 Chronicles 14:3He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim
• 2 Chronicles 19:3Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God."
• 2 Chronicles 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.
• Jeremiah 17:2while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills,
• Micah 5:14and I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities.
• Exodus 23:13"Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.
• Psalms 16:4The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
• Hosea 2:17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.
• Zechariah 13:2"And on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness.
• Revelation 13:1And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems 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