Exodus 23:24

Exodus 23:24 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.
• English Standard Version (ESV)you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.

Context of Exodus 23:24

22But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces. 25But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. 26There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

Exodus 23:24 word by word

לֹֽא־תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֤ה לֵאלֹֽהֵיהֶם֙ וְלֹ֣א תָֽעָבְדֵ֔ם וְלֹ֥א תַעֲשֶׂ֖ה כְּמַֽעֲשֵׂיהֶ֑ם כִּ֤י הָרֵס֙ תְּהָ֣רְסֵ֔ם וְשַׁבֵּ֥ר תְּשַׁבֵּ֖ר מַצֵּבֹתֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

• You shall not worshipשָׁחָהshâchâh · to bowH7812
• their godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• norלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
• doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• according to their deedsמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
• but you shall utterlyהָרַסhâras · to overthrowH2040
• them and breakשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• pillarsמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676

Cross-references for Exodus 23:24

• Exodus 20:5You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
• Leviticus 18:3You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.
• Deuteronomy 12:30beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’
• 2 Chronicles 33:2He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
• Psalms 101:3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me.
• Psalms 106:35But they mingled with the nations And learned their practices,
• Ezekiel 16:47Yet you have not merely walked in their ways or done according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you acted more corruptly in all your conduct than they.
• Exodus 32:20He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.
• Exodus 34:13But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim
• 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 molten images and demolish all their high places;
• Deuteronomy 7:5But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.
• Deuteronomy 12:3You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.
• 2 Chronicles 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.

Commentaries on Exodus 23:24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 24Break down their images - מצבתיהם matstsebotheyhem, from נצב natsab, to stand up; pillars, anointed stones, etc., such as the baitulia. See Clarke on Genesis 28:18; (note).Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-33Verses 20-33 It is here promised that they should be guided and kept in their way through the wilderness to the land of promise, Behold, I send an angel before thee, mine angel. The precept joined with this promise is, that they be obedient to this angel whom God would send before them. Christ is the Angel of Jehovah; this is plainly taught by St. Paul, 1Co 10:9. They should have a comfortable settlement in the land of Canaan. How reasonable are the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 24In Canaanite worship, people built holy pillars to represent the gods. Sometimes, they carved them to look like humans.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2520-25. Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way--The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 23:24

• Amorites
• Canaanites
• Iconoclasm
• Jebusites
• War

In the dictionaries

• Beware
• Book
• Countenance
• Idolatry
• Ingathering
• Refresh
• Seethe
• Turn
• Wrest
• Bible, the

Commentaries on Exodus 23

• 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