New English Translation
Deuteronomy 4:28
28There you will worship gods made by human hands – wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.
Deuteronomy 4:28 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
- New International Version (NIV)There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
Context of Deuteronomy 4:28
26I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will surely and swiftly be removed from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be annihilated. 27Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you among the nations where the Lord will drive you. There you will worship gods made by human hands – wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. 29But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. 30In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, if you return to the Lord your God and obey him
Read all of Deuteronomy 4Deuteronomy 4:28 word by word
וַעֲבַדְתֶּם־שָׁ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֔ים מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה יְדֵ֣י אָדָ֑ם עֵ֣ץ וָאֶ֔בֶן אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־יִרְאוּן֙ וְלֹ֣א יִשְׁמְע֔וּן וְלֹ֥א יֹֽאכְל֖וּן וְלֹ֥א יְרִיחֻֽן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And there ye shall serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
- godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- the workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
- of men’sאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
- handsיָדyâd · handH3027
- woodעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086
- and stoneאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
- which neither seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- nor hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- nor eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- nor smellרִיחַrûach · to smellH7306
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 4:28
- Deuteronomy 28:36The Lord will force you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there.
- 1 Samuel 26:19So let my lord the king now listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may he take delight in an offering. But if men have instigated this, may they be cursed before the Lord! For they have driven me away this day from being united with the Lord’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go on, serve other gods!’
- Jeremiah 16:13So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you must worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.’”
- Ezekiel 20:32“‘What you plan will never happen. You say, “We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.”
- Acts 7:42But God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, house of Israel?
- Psalms 115:4Their idols are made of silver and gold – they are man-made.
- Psalms 135:15The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold, they are man-made.
- Isaiah 44:9All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
- Isaiah 45:20Gather together and come! Approach together, you refugees from the nations! Those who carry wooden idols know nothing, those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
- Isaiah 46:7They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress.
- Jeremiah 10:3For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 4:28
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28There ye shall serve gods - wood and stone - This was also true of the Israelites, not only in their captivities, but also in their own land. And it may now be literally the case with the ten tribes who were carried away captive by the Assyrians, and of whose residence no man at present knows any thing with certainty. That they still exist there can be no doubt; but they are now, most probably, so completely incorporated with the idolaters among whom they…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25-28Verses 25-28 Compare with these verses Leviticus 26:33-40, and Deuteronomy 28:64 ff.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-40Verses 24-40 Moses urged the greatness, glory, and goodness of God. Did we consider what a God he is with whom we have to do, we should surely make conscience of our duty to him, and not dare to sin against him. Shall we forsake a merciful God, who will never forsake us, if we are faithful unto him? Whither can we go? Let us be held to our duty by the bonds of love, and prevailed with by the mercies of God to cleave to him. Moses urged God's authority…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-40Moses gave a long speech to the Israelites because of their recent failures and what he thought would happen in Canaan.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2828. there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands--The compulsory measures of their tyrannical conquerors would force them into idolatry, so that their choice would become their punishment.Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 4:28
In the dictionaries
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
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