Exodus 23:24

American Standard Version (1901)

Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their pillars.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֹֽא־תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֤ה לֵאלֹֽהֵיהֶם֙ וְלֹ֣א תָֽעָבְדֵ֔ם וְלֹ֥א תַעֲשֶׂ֖ה כְּמַֽעֲשֵׂיהֶ֑ם כִּ֤י הָרֵס֙ תְּהָ֣רְסֵ֔ם וְשַׁבֵּ֥ר תְּשַׁבֵּ֖ר מַצֵּבֹתֵיהֶֽם׃

Transliteration

Not-tištaḥăweh to-ʾĕlōhêhem and-not tāʿobdēm and-not taʿăśeh as-maʿăśêhem for hārēs tĕhārĕsēm and-šabbēr tĕšabbēr maṣṣēbōtêhem

Grammar Details

• *tištaḥăweh*: hishtaphel imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - bow down/prostrate yourself
• *ʾĕlōhêhem*: noun masculine plural with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their gods
• *tāʿobdēm*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - serve/worship them
• *taʿăśeh*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - do/make
• *maʿăśêhem*: noun masculine plural with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their deeds/practices
• *hārēs tĕhārĕsēm*: qal infinitive absolute + piel imperfect 2nd person masculine singular with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - emphatic construction: 'you shall utterly destroy them'
• *šabbēr tĕšabbēr*: piel infinitive absolute + piel imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - emphatic construction: 'you shall utterly shatter'
• *maṣṣēbōtêhem*: noun feminine plural with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their sacred pillars/standing stones

Word Meanings

• *tištaḥăweh*: bow down/prostrate yourself/worship
• *tāʿobdēm*: serve/worship/work for them
• *maʿăśêhem*: their deeds/practices/customs/works
• *hārēs tĕhārĕsēm*: you shall utterly destroy them/completely demolish them
• *šabbēr tĕšabbēr*: you shall utterly shatter/completely break in pieces
• *maṣṣēbōtêhem*: their sacred pillars/standing stones/monuments

Referenced Verses

• Exod 20:5 : 5 thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me,
• Num 33:52 : 52 then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured [stones], and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places:
• Deut 7:5 : 5 But thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.
• Deut 12:3 : 3 and ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.
• Deut 12:30-31 : 30 take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.
• Lev 18:3 : 3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their statutes.
• Lev 18:26-30 : 26 Ye therefore shall keep my statutes and mine ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the home-born, nor the stranger that sojourneth among you; 27 (for all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you, and the land is defiled); 28 that the land vomit not you out also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 Therefore shall ye keep my charge, that ye practise not any of these abominable customs, which were practised before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am Jehovah your God.
• Exod 32:20 : 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
• Exod 34:13-14 : 13 but ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their Asherim 14 (for thou shalt worship no other god: for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God);
• Deut 7:25-26 : 25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God. 26 And thou shalt not bring an abomination into thy house, and become a devoted thing like unto it: thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.
• 2 Chr 33:2 : 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel.
• 2 Chr 33:9 : 9 And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel.
• 2 Chr 34:3-7 : 3 For 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 Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images. 4 And they brake down the altars of the Baalim in his presence; and the sun-images that were on high above them he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves [of them] that had sacrificed unto them. 5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, in their ruins round about. 7 And he brake down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the graven images into powder, and hewed down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.
• Ps 101:3 : 3 I will set no base thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; It shall not cleave unto me.
• Ps 106:35-38 : 35 But mingled themselves with the nations, And learned their works, 36 And served their idols, Which became a snare unto them. 37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons, 38 And shed innocent blood, Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with blood.
• Ezek 16:47 : 47 Yet hast thou not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as [if that were] a very little [thing], thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways.