Deuteronomy 4:28

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַעֲבַדְתֶּם־שָׁ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֔ים מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה יְדֵ֣י אָדָ֑ם עֵ֣ץ וָאֶ֔בֶן אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־יִרְאוּן֙ וְלֹ֣א יִשְׁמְע֔וּן וְלֹ֥א יֹֽאכְל֖וּן וְלֹ֥א יְרִיחֻֽן׃

Transliteration

wəʿăḇaḏtem-there ʾĕlōhîm, maʿăśēh yəḏê ʾāḏām, ʿēṣ and-ʾeḇen, which not-yirʾûn and-not yišməʿûn and-not yōʾḵəlûn and-not yərîḥun.

Grammar Details

• *wəʿăḇaḏtem*: waw consecutive + verb, Qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural - and you will serve
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: masculine plural noun - gods/deities
• *maʿăśēh*: construct state, masculine singular noun - work/product of
• *yəḏê*: construct state, feminine dual noun - hands of
• *ʾāḏām*: masculine singular noun - man/mankind
• *ʿēṣ*: masculine singular noun - wood/tree
• *ʾeḇen*: feminine singular noun - stone
• *yirʾûn*: verb, Qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - they see
• *yišməʿûn*: verb, Qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - they hear
• *yōʾḵəlûn*: verb, Qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - they eat
• *yərîḥun*: verb, Hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - they smell

Word Meanings

• *ʾĕlōhîm*: gods/deities/divine beings (plural form)
• *maʿăśēh*: work/product/handiwork
• *ʿēṣ*: wood/tree/timber
• *ʾeḇen*: stone/rock

Referenced Verses

• Deut 28:36 : 36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
• Deut 28:64 : 64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
• Jer 16:13 : 13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.
• 1 Sam 26:19 : 19 Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.
• Isa 44:9 : 9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
• Isa 46:7 : 7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
• Jer 10:3 : 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
• Jer 10:9 : 9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
• Isa 45:20 : 20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
• Ps 115:4-8 : 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. 8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
• Ps 135:15-18 : 15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; 17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. 18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.
• Ezek 20:32 : 32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
• Ezek 20:39 : 39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.
• Acts 7:42 : 42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?