Revised Literal Translation
Deuteronomy 4:19
19And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which Yhwh thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.1
Deuteronomy 4:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
- New International Version (NIV)And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
Context of Deuteronomy 4:19
17The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which Yhwh thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. 20But Yhwh hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. 21Furthermore Yhwh was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which Yhwh thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
Read all of Deuteronomy 4Deuteronomy 4:19 word by word
וּפֶן־תִּשָּׂ֨א עֵינֶ֜יךָ הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וְֽ֠רָאִיתָ אֶת־הַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ וְאֶת־הַיָּרֵ֜חַ וְאֶת־הַכּֽוֹכָבִ֗ים כֹּ֚ל צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנִדַּחְתָּ֛ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִ֥יתָ לָהֶ֖ם וַעֲבַדְתָּ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר חָלַ֜ק יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ אֹתָ֔ם לְכֹל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים תַּ֖חַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
- And lest thou lift upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: raiseH5375
- thine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- unto heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
- and when thou seestרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
- and the moonיָרֵחַyârêach · moonH3394
- and the starsכּוֹכָבkôkâb · starH3556
- all the hostצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · armyH6635
- shouldest be drivenנָדַחnâdach · to banishH5080
- to worshipשָׁחָהshâchâh · to bowH7812
- them, and serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
- them, which Yhwhיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- hath dividedחָלַקchâlaq · to divideH2505
- unto all nationsעַם‛am · peopleH5971
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 4:19
- Deuteronomy 17:3And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
- 2 Kings 23:4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of Yhwh all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth–el.
- Job 31:26If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
- Jeremiah 8:2And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
- Ezekiel 8:16And he brought me into the inner court of Yhwh's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of Yhwh, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Yhwh, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
- Amos 5:25Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
- Genesis 2:1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
- 2 Kings 17:16And they left all the commandments of Yhwh their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
- 2 Kings 21:3For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
- Jeremiah 19:13And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
- Zephaniah 1:5And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by Yhwh, and that swear by Malcham;
- Acts 7:42Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
- Romans 1:25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
- Genesis 1:16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
- Joshua 10:12Then spake Joshua to Yhwh in the day when Yhwh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
- Nehemiah 9:6Thou, even thou, art Yhwh alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 4:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19When thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars - The worship of the heavenly bodies was the oldest species of idolatry. Those who had not the knowledge of the true God were led to consider the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as not only self-existing, but the authors of all the blessings possessed by mankind. The knowledge of a rational system of astronomy served to destroy this superstition; and very little of it remains now in the world, except…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19Divided - i. e., “whose light God has distributed to the nations for their use and benefit, and which therefore being creatures ministering to man‘s convenience must not be worshipped as man‘s lords.”Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19host of heaven: This phrase refers to stars and other celestial bodies. People once thought they represented gods. Instead, they serve God, who named them to mark times and seasons (Genesis 1:14–19; Isaiah 40:26). The LORD your God has apportioned: Instead of worshiping these celestial bodies, God required the people of Israel to understand that God created them to serve humankind (Genesis 1:28).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 4:19
In the dictionaries
Notes
- 1. Deuteronomy 4:19 divided: or, imparted. ↩
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
Revised Literal Translation — © 2018 Michael W. Jones, Sr. — GPL
Commentaries