Deuteronomy 12:30

Deuteronomy 12:30 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
• New International Version (NIV)and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.'
• New King James Version (NKJV)take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’

Context of Deuteronomy 12:30

28“Be careful and listen to all these words which I am commanding you, so that it may go well for you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God. 29“When the Lord your God cuts off from you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and live in their land, be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from your presence, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31You shall not behave this way toward the Lord your God, because every abominable act which the Lord hates, they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods. 32“Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take anything away from it.

Deuteronomy 12:30 word by word

הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֗ פֶּן־תִּנָּקֵשׁ֙ אַחֲרֵיהֶ֔ם אַחֲרֵ֖י הִשָּׁמְדָ֣ם מִפָּנֶ֑יךָ וּפֶן־תִּדְרֹ֨שׁ לֵֽאלֹהֵיהֶ֜ם לֵאמֹ֨ר אֵיכָ֨ה יַעַבְד֜וּ הַגּוֹיִ֤ם הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ אֶת־אֱלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם וְאֶעֱשֶׂה־כֵּ֖ן גַּם־אָֽנִי׃Read the interlinear

• beשָׁמַרshâmar · to keep: obeyH8104
• that you are not ensnaredנָקַשׁnâqash · to snareH5367
• to followאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• they are destroyedשָׁמַדshâmad · to destroyH8045
• from your presenceפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• and that you do not inquireדָּרַשׁdârash · to seekH1875
• about their godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• do theseאֵ֫לֶּה'êlleh · theseH428
• nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
• that I alsoגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• may doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• likewiseכֵּןkên · soH3651

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 12:30

• Deuteronomy 7:16You shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will turn over to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.
• Exodus 23:31I will set your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River; for I will hand over the inhabitants of the land to you, and you will drive them out from you.
• 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.
• Numbers 33:52you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from you, and destroy all their idolatrous sculptures, destroy all their cast metal images, and eliminate all their high places;
• Judges 2:2and as for you, you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this thing that you have done?
• 2 Kings 17:15They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He gave them. And they followed idols and became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the Lord had commanded them not to do as they did.
• Psalms 106:34They did not destroy the peoples, As the Lord had commanded them,
• Ezekiel 20:28When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every tree thick with branches, and there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings.
• Jeremiah 10:2This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens, Although the nations are terrified by them;
• Ezekiel 20:32And whatever comes into your mind certainly will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, serving wood and stone.’
• Romans 12:2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
• Ephesians 4:17So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds,
• 1 Peter 4:3For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of indecent behavior, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 12:30

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 30This caution is based upon the notion generally entertained in the ancient pagan world, that each country had its own tutelary deities whom it would be perilous to neglect; compare 1 Kings 20:23; 2 Kings 17:26. Israel was to shun such superstitions as unworthy of the elect people of God.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-32Verses 5-32 The command to bring ALL the sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle, was now explained with reference to the promised land. As to moral service, then, as now, men might pray and worship every where, as they did in their synagogues. The place which God would choose, is said to be the place where he would put his name. It was to be his habitation, where, as King of Israel, he would be found by all who reverently sought him. Now, under the…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 29-3029-30. Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them ... saying, How did these nations serve their gods?--The Israelites, influenced by superstitious fear, too often endeavored to propitiate the deities of Canaan. Their Egyptian education had early impressed that bugbear notion of a set of local deities, who expected their dues of all who came to inhabit the country which they honored with their protection, and severely resented the…Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 12:30

• Company
• Fellowship
• Judgments

In the dictionaries

• High place
• Idolatry
• Lust
• Rest
• Atonement, Day of
• Chemosh
• Criticism
• Cruel; Cruelty
• Exodus, the Book of
• 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