Exodus 23:24

Authorized King James Version (1611)

Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

📖 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 to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and 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 pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
• Deut 7:5 : 5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
• Deut 12:3 : 3 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.
• Deut 12:30-31 : 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt 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 ordinances.
• Lev 18:26-30 : 26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit [any] of these abominations; [neither] any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: 27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which [were] before you, and the land is defiled;) 28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that [were] before you. 29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit [them] shall be cut off from among their people. 30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that [ye] commit not [any one] of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I [am] the LORD your God.
• Exod 32:20 : 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt [it] in the fire, and ground [it] to powder, and strawed [it] upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink [of it].
• Exod 34:13-14 : 13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, 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 desire the silver or gold [that is] on them, nor take [it] unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it [is] an abomination to the LORD thy God. 26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: [but] thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it [is] a cursed thing.
• 2 Chr 33:2 : 2 But did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
• 2 Chr 33:9 : 9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, [and] to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had 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 groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that [were] on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust [of them], and strowed [it] upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. 5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. 7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
• Ps 101:3 : 3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; [it] shall not cleave to me.
• Ps 106:35-38 : 35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. 36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. 37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, 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 after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as [if that were] a very little [thing], thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.