Exodus 34:15

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat from their sacrifices.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

פֶּן־תִּכְרֹ֥ת בְּרִ֖ית לְיוֹשֵׁ֣ב הָאָ֑רֶץ וְזָנ֣וּ ׀ אַחֲרֵ֣י אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֗ם וְזָבְחוּ֙ לֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם וְקָרָ֣א לְךָ֔ וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ מִזִּבְחֽוֹ׃

Transliteration

Lest tikrōt bərît with yôšēḇ hāʾāreṣ and they wəzānû after their ʾĕlōhêhem and wəzāḇḥû to their lēʾlōhêhem and wəqārāʾ to you and you wəʾākaltā from his mizziḇḥô.

Grammar Details

• *tikrōt*: imperfect 2nd masculine singular - you cut/make
• *bərît*: feminine singular noun - covenant
• *yôšēḇ*: active participle masculine singular construct - dweller of/inhabitant of
• *hāʾāreṣ*: definite article + feminine singular noun - the land
• *wəzānû*: waw consecutive + perfect 3rd plural - and they will prostitute themselves
• *ʾĕlōhêhem*: masculine plural noun + 3rd masculine plural suffix - their gods
• *wəzāḇḥû*: waw consecutive + perfect 3rd plural - and they will sacrifice
• *lēʾlōhêhem*: preposition + masculine plural noun + 3rd masculine plural suffix - to their gods
• *wəqārāʾ*: waw consecutive + perfect 3rd masculine singular - and he will call/invite
• *wəʾākaltā*: waw consecutive + perfect 2nd masculine singular - and you will eat
• *mizziḇḥô*: preposition + masculine singular noun + 3rd masculine singular suffix - from his sacrifice

Word Meanings

• *tikrōt bərît*: make a covenant/cut a covenant
• *wəzānû*: prostitute themselves/be unfaithful/commit fornication
• *wəzāḇḥû*: sacrifice/offer/slaughter
• *wəqārāʾ*: call/invite/summon
• *mizziḇḥô*: from his sacrifice/from his offering

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you, and you eat his sacrifice.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice;

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  lest yf thou make any agreament with the inhabiters of the lande, when they go a whoorynge after their goddes ad do sacrifyce vnto their goddes, they call the and thou eate of their sacrifyce:

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  lest (yf thou make any agrement with the indwellers of the londe, and whan they go a whoringe after their goddes, and do sacrifice vnto their goddes) they call ye, and thou eate of their sacrifice,

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  Lest thou make a compact with the inhabitantes of the lande, and when they goe a whoring after their gods, and doe sacrifice vnto their gods, some man call thee, & thou eate of his sacrifice:

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Lest if thou make any agreement with the inhabitours of the lande, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice vnto their gods: they call thee, and thou eate of theyr sacrifice.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and [one] call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  Don't make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  `Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone a-whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and `one' hath called to thee, and thou hast eaten of his sacrifice,

• American Standard Version (1901)

  lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice;

• American Standard Version (1901)

  lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice;

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  So see that you make no agreement with the people of the land, and do not go after their gods, or take part in their offerings, or be guests at their feasts,

• World English Bible (2000)

  "Don't make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice;

Referenced Verses

• Num 25:2 : 2 The women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
• 1 Cor 8:4 : 4 So then, concerning eating food sacrificed to idols: we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and there is no God but one.
• Judg 2:17 : 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. They turned quickly from the way their ancestors had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments. They did not do as their ancestors had done.
• 1 Cor 10:27 : 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is placed before you without raising questions of conscience.
• Deut 31:16 : 16 The LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, you are going to rest with your ancestors, and this people will rise up and prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.'
• 1 Cor 8:7 : 7 However, not everyone knows this. Some, being accustomed to idols until now, eat it as if it were truly food offered to an idol, and their weak conscience is defiled.
• 1 Cor 8:10 : 10 For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, eating in an idol's temple, won’t their weak conscience be emboldened to eat food sacrificed to idols?
• Ps 106:28 : 28 They joined themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
• Jer 3:9 : 9 Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.
• Exod 34:12 : 12 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, or they will become a snare in your midst.
• Lev 17:7 : 7 They must no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-demons, after whom they have been unfaithful. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for their descendants.
• Lev 20:5-6 : 5 then I will set my face against that man and his family, and I will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech. 6 If anyone turns to mediums or spiritists, prostituting themselves by following them, I will set my face against that person and cut them off from their people.
• Num 15:39 : 39 These tassels will serve as a reminder. When you see them, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them. You will not follow the desires of your own heart and eyes, which lead you astray.
• Deut 7:2 : 2 and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must devote them to complete destruction. Do not make a covenant with them or show them any mercy.
• Exod 23:32 : 32 Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods.
• Exod 34:10 : 10 The LORD responded, "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will perform wonders never before done in any nation or all the earth. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
• Hos 4:12 : 12 My people consult their wooden idols, and their staffs provide guidance for them. A spirit of prostitution has led them astray; they have been unfaithful under their God.
• Hos 9:1 : 1 Do not rejoice, Israel, like other nations, for you have been unfaithful to your God. You have loved the wages of a prostitute on every threshing floor of grain.
• 1 Cor 10:20-21 : 20 No, but what the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
• Rev 2:20 : 20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching, she misleads my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
• Rev 17:1-5 : 1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters.' 2 With her, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality. 3 Then he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her immorality. 5 On her forehead was written a name: 'Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth.'
• Ezra 6:9 : 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, or lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests in Jerusalem—must be provided to them daily without fail.
• Ps 73:27 : 27 Those who are far from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.