Deuteronomy 4:23

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הִשָּׁמְר֣וּ לָכֶ֗ם פֶּֽן־תִּשְׁכְּחוּ֙ אֶת־בְּרִ֤ית יְהוָה֙ אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּרַ֖ת עִמָּכֶ֑ם וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֨ם לָכֶ֥ם פֶּ֙סֶל֙ תְּמ֣וּנַת כֹּ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוְּךָ֖ יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃

Transliteration

hiššāmərû lākem pen-tiškəḥû ʾet-bərît YHWH ʾĕlōhêkem ʾăšer kārat ʿimmākem wa-ʿăśîtem lākem pesel təmûnat kōl ʾăšer ṣiwwəkā YHWH ʾĕlōhêkā.

Grammar Details

• *hiššāmərû*: Niphal imperative, 2nd masculine plural - take heed/be careful
• *lākem*: preposition with 2nd masculine plural suffix - for yourselves
• *pen*: conjunction - lest
• *tiškəḥû*: Qal imperfect, 2nd masculine plural - you forget
• *ʾet-bərît*: direct object marker + feminine singular construct noun - the covenant of
• *YHWH*: proper noun - LORD/Yahweh
• *ʾĕlōhêkem*: masculine plural noun with 2nd masculine plural suffix - your God
• *ʾăšer*: relative pronoun - which
• *kārat*: Qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - he cut/made
• *ʿimmākem*: preposition with 2nd masculine plural suffix - with you
• *wa-ʿăśîtem*: conjunction + Qal perfect, 2nd masculine plural - and make
• *pesel*: masculine singular noun - carved image/idol
• *təmûnat*: feminine singular construct noun - likeness of
• *kōl*: noun - all/any
• *ṣiwwəkā*: Piel perfect, 3rd masculine singular with 2nd masculine singular suffix - commanded you
• *ʾĕlōhêkā*: masculine plural noun with 2nd masculine singular suffix - your God

Word Meanings

• *hiššāmərû*: take heed/be careful/guard yourselves
• *pen*: lest/that not/beware
• *tiškəḥû*: forget/neglect/cease to care
• *bərît*: covenant/agreement/treaty
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: God/gods/divine beings
• *kārat*: cut/made/established
• *ʿimmākem*: with you/among you
• *ʿăśîtem*: make/fashion/create
• *pesel*: carved image/idol/sculpture
• *təmûnat*: likeness/form/representation
• *ṣiwwəkā*: commanded you/ordered you/instructed you

Referenced Verses

• Deut 4:9 : 9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
• Deut 4:15-16 : 15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
• Deut 6:12 : 12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
• Deut 27:9 : 9 And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God.
• Deut 29:25 : 25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
• Deut 31:20 : 20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
• Josh 23:11 : 11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
• Josh 23:16 : 16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.
• 1 Chr 16:15 : 15 Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;
• Isa 24:5 : 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
• Jer 31:22 : 22 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
• Ezek 16:59 : 59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
• Matt 24:4 : 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
• Luke 12:15 : 15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
• Luke 21:8 : 8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
• Heb 3:12 : 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
• Exod 20:4-5 : 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 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;