God’s Word Translation
Deuteronomy 7:5
5But this is what you must do to these people: Tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols.
Deuteronomy 7:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
Context of Deuteronomy 7:5
3Never marry any of them. Never let your daughters marry their sons or your sons marry their daughters. 4These people will turn your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord will get very angry with you and will quickly destroy you. But this is what you must do to these people: Tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6You are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. He chose you to be his own special possession out of all the nations on earth. 7The Lord set his heart on you and chose you, even though you didn’t outnumber all the other people. You were the smallest of all nations.
Read all of Deuteronomy 7Deuteronomy 7:5 word by word
כִּֽי־אִם־כֹּ֤ה תַעֲשׂוּ֙ לָהֶ֔ם מִזְבְּחֹתֵיהֶ֣ם תִּתֹּ֔צוּ וּמַצֵּבֹתָ֖ם תְּשַׁבֵּ֑רוּ וַאֲשֵֽׁירֵהֶם֙ תְּגַדֵּע֔וּן וּפְסִילֵיהֶ֖ם תִּשְׂרְפ֥וּן בָּאֵֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- But thus shall ye dealעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- with them; ye shall destroyנָתַץnâthats · to tearH5422
- their altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
- and break downשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
- their imagesמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
- and cut downגָּדַעgâda‛ · to cut down/offH1438
- their grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
- and burnשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
- their graven imagesפָּסִילpesîyl · idolH6456
- with fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 7:5
- Deuteronomy 12:2Completely destroy all the worship sites on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every large tree. The people you’re forcing out worship their gods in these places.
- Exodus 23:24Never worship or serve their gods or follow their practices. Instead, you must destroy their gods and crush their sacred stones.
- Exodus 34:13But tear down their altars, crush their sacred stones, and cut down their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah.
- 2 Kings 23:6He took the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah from the temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it in the Kidron Valley, ground it to dust, and threw its ashes on the tombs of the common people.
- Deuteronomy 16:22Never set up a sacred stone. These are things the Lord your God hates.
- Leviticus 26:1⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “Never make worthless idols or set up a carved statue or a sacred stone for yourselves. Never cut figures in stone to worship them in your country, because I am the Lord your God.
- Judges 6:25That same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take a bull from your father’s herd, a bull that is seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar dedicated to the god Baal and cut down the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah that is next to it.
- Deuteronomy 7:25Burn their idols. Don’t ever long for the silver and gold on these idols or take any of it for yourselves. It might be a trap for you. Besides, these idols are disgusting to the Lord your God.
- Deuteronomy 9:21I took that sinful calf you made and burned it. I crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was as fine as powder. Then I threw the powder into the river that flowed down the mountain.
- Exodus 32:20Then he took the calf they had made, burned it, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 7:5
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-11Verses 1-11 See Deuteronomy 6:10 note. Deuteronomy 7:5 Their groves - Render, their idols of wood: the reference is to the wooden trunk used as a representation of Ashtaroth; see Deuteronomy 7:13 and Exodus 34:13 note. Deuteronomy 7:7 The fewest of all people - God chose for Himself Israel, when as yet but a single family, or rather a single person, Abraham; though there were already numerous nations and powerful kingdoms in the earth. Increase…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Engraved stone pillars called stelae usually represented pagan male gods. People commonly found these sacred pillars at shrines dedicated to Baal. Asherah poles, usually made of wood, represented Canaanite fertility goddesses, especially Asherah, the mother of the gods. These shrines might have developed as stylized sacred trees associated with fertility (see study note on 12:2).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-62-6. thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them--This relentless doom of extermination which God denounced against those tribes of Canaan cannot be reconciled with the attributes of the divine character, except on the assumption that their gross idolatry and enormous wickedness left no reasonable hope of their repentance and amendment. If they were to be swept away like the antediluvians or the people of Sodom…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 7:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 7
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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