Deuteronomy 12:3

Deuteronomy 12:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
• New International Version (NIV)Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.

Context of Deuteronomy 12:3

1These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, in which the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. 4Ye shall not do so to the LORD your God. 5But the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even his habitation shall ye seek, and there thou shalt come:

Deuteronomy 12:3 word by word

וְנִתַּצְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־מִזְבּחֹתָ֗ם וְשִׁבַּרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־מַצֵּ֣בֹתָ֔ם וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙ תִּשְׂרְפ֣וּן בָּאֵ֔שׁ וּפְסִילֵ֥י אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֖ם תְּגַדֵּע֑וּן וְאִבַּדְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־שְׁמָ֔ם מִן־הַמָּק֖וֹם הַהֽוּא׃Read the interlinear

• overthrowנָתַץnâthats · to tearH5422
• altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• breakשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• pillarsמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
• burnשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
• grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
• downגָּדַעgâda‛ · to cut down/offH1438
• imagesפָּסִילpesîyl · idolH6456
• godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• destroyאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• namesשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 12:3

• Numbers 33:52Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their stone images, and destroy all their molten images, and destroy all their high places:
• Judges 2:2And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
• 2 Chronicles 31:1Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
• 1 Kings 15:13And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
• 2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places, and broke the images, and cut down the groves, and broke in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for till those days the children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
• 2 Kings 23:14And he broke in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
• 2 Chronicles 14:3For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and broke down the images, and cut down the groves:
• 2 Chronicles 19:3Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thy heart to seek God.
• 2 Chronicles 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
• Jeremiah 17:2While their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
• Micah 5:14And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
• Exodus 23:13And in all things that I have said to you be circumspect: and make no mention of the names of other gods, neither let it be heard from thy mouth.
• Psalms 16:4Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god : their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take their names into my lips.
• Hosea 2:17For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
• Zechariah 13:2And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
• Revelation 13:1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 12:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Ye shall overthrow their altars - Where unholy sacrifices have been offered; and break their pillars, probably meaning statues and representations of their gods cut out of stone; and burn their groves, such as those about the temple of Ashtaroth, the Canaanitish Venus, whose impure rites were practiced in different parts of the enclosures or groves round her temples; and ye shall hew down the graven images, probably implying all images carved out of wood…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Their groves - Render their idols of wood: and see the Deuteronomy 7:5 note.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3sacred pillars: See study note on 7:5. Asherah poles: They dedicated these wooden poles to the mother goddess, Asherah. They were the feminine counterpart to the sacred pillar. wipe out their names: Destroying all idols and traces of pagan worship would lead to the names of these gods being forgotten. Future generations would not know about them (see also study note on 7:24).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. And ye shall overthrow their altars--piles of turf or small stones. and break their pillars--Before the art of sculpture was known, the statues of idols were only rude blocks of colored stones.Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 12:3

• Iconoclasm
• Pillar

In the dictionaries

• High place
• Idolatry
• Lust
• Rest
• Atonement, Day of
• Criticism
• Deuteronomy
• Exodus, the Book of
• Fire
• 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