New Living Translation
Deuteronomy 7:5
5This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles 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
3You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, 4for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. 6For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. 7“The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for 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 12:2“When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Exodus 23:24You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.
- Exodus 34:13Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles.
- 2 Kings 23:6The king removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s Temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people.
- Deuteronomy 16:22And never set up sacred pillars for worship, for the Lord your God hates them.
- Leviticus 26:1“Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. I am the Lord your God.
- Judges 6:25That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it.
- Deuteronomy 7:25“You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.
- Deuteronomy 9:21I took your sin—the calf you had made—and I melted it down in the fire and ground it into fine dust. Then I threw the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain.
- Exodus 32:20He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to 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
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