Exodus 34:12-14
New English Translation
12 Be careful not to make[a] a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare[b] among you. 13 Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles.[c] 14 For you must not worship[d] any other god,[e] for the Lord, whose name[f] is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 34:12 tn The exact expression is “take heed to yourself lest you make.” It is the second use of this verb in the duties, now in the Niphal stem. To take heed to yourself means to watch yourself, be sure not to do something. Here, if they failed to do this, they would end up making entangling treaties.
- Exodus 34:12 sn A snare would be a trap, an allurement to ruin. See Exod 23:33.
- Exodus 34:13 tn Or “images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “their Asherah idols.”sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
- Exodus 34:14 tn Heb “bow down.”
- Exodus 34:14 sn In Exod 20:3 it was “gods.”
- Exodus 34:14 sn Here, too, the emphasis on God’s being a jealous God is repeated (see Exod 20:5). The use of “name” here is to stress that this is his nature, his character.
Exodus 34:12-14
New International Version
12 Be careful not to make a treaty(A) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare(B) among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](C) 14 Do not worship any other god,(D) for the Lord, whose name(E) is Jealous, is a jealous God.(F)
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.