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

14The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, so that you would perform them in the land where you are going over to take possession of it. 15“So be very careful yourselves, since you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, so that you do not act corruptly and make a carved image for yourselves in the form of any figure, a representation of male or female, 17a representation of any animal that is on the earth, a representation of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18a representation of anything that crawls on the ground, or a representation of any fish that is in the water below the earth.

Deuteronomy 4:16 word by word

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

• soפֶּן־pên · lestH6435
• actשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
• makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• a carvedפֶּ֫סֶלpesel · idolH6459
• for yourselves in the formתְּמוּנָהtemûnâh temûnâh · likenessH8544
• of anyכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• figureסֶ֫מֶלsemel sêmel · idolH5566
• a representationתַּבְנִיתtabnîyth · patternH8403
• of maleזָכָרzâkâr · maleH2145
• orאוֹ'ô 'av · orH176
• femaleנְקֵבָהneqêbâh · femaleH5347

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 4:16

• Deuteronomy 4:8Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?
• Exodus 20:4“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.
• Exodus 32:7Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have behaved corruptly.
• Psalms 106:19They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped a cast metal image.
• Romans 1:22Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
• Deuteronomy 4:23So be careful yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you.
• Isaiah 40:18To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
• John 4:24God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
• Acts 17:29Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought.
• Acts 20:4And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus 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