Exodus 23:24

KJV1611 – Modern English

You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred 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

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  Do not bow down to their gods or worship them or follow their practices. Instead, you must demolish them completely and shatter their sacred pillars.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  Thou shalt not bow down{H7812} to their gods,{H430} nor serve{H5647} them, nor do{H6213} after their works;{H4639} but thou shalt utterly{H2040} overthrow{H2040} them, and{H7665} break in pieces{H7665} their pillars.{H4676}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  Thou shalt not bow down{H7812}{(H8691)} to their gods{H430}, nor serve{H5647}{(H8714)} them, nor do{H6213}{(H8799)} after their works{H4639}: but thou shalt utterly{H2040}{(H8763)} overthrow{H2040}{(H8762)} them, and quite{H7665}{(H8763)} break down{H7665}{(H8762)} their images{H4676}.

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  se thou worshippe not their goddes nether serue them, nether do after the workes of them: but ouertrowe them and breake doune the places of them

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  then shalt thou not worshipe their goddes, ner serue them, nether shalt thou do as they do, but shalt ouerthrowe their goddes, & breake the downe.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  Thou shalt not bow downe to their gods, neither serue them, nor doe after the workes of them: but vtterly ouerthrowe them, and breake in pieces their images.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Thou shalt not bowe downe to their gods, neither serue the, neither do after ye workes of them: but ouerthrowe the, and breake downe the images of them.

• 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.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  `Thou dost not bow thyself to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their doings, but dost utterly devote them, and thoroughly break their standing pillars.

• 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.

• 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.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  Do not go down on your faces and give worship to their gods, or do as they do; but overcome them completely, and let their pillars be broken down.

• World English Bible (2000)

  You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  “You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces.

Referenced Verses

• Exod 20:5 : 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me.
• Num 33:52 : 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their carved images, and destroy all their molten images, and thoroughly demolish all their high places:
• Deut 7:5 : 5 But thus shall you deal with them; you 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 you shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and you shall cut down the carved images of their gods, and obliterate their names from that place.
• Deut 12:30-31 : 30 Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you; and that you do not enquire after their gods, asking, How did these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise. 31 You shall not do so to the LORD your God, for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they have even burned their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
• Lev 18:3 : 3 You shall not do according to the practices of the land of Egypt, where you lived; and you shall not do according to the practices of the land of Canaan, where I bring you; you shall not walk in their ordinances.
• Lev 18:26-30 : 26 You 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 who sojourns among you: 27 For all these abominations have the men of the land done, who were before you, and the land is defiled; 28 That the land not spew you out also, when you defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you. 29 For whoever commits any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 Therefore you shall keep my ordinance, that you do not commit any of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.
• Exod 32:20 : 20 He took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.
• Exod 34:13-14 : 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images. 14 For you shall 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 you shall burn with fire: you shall not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it to you, lest you be ensnared by it: for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26 Neither shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you become a cursed thing like it: but you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
• 2 Chr 33:2 : 2 But he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, like the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
• 2 Chr 33:9 : 9 So Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do worse than the nations 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 still 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, the groves, the carved images, and the molten images. 4 And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were high above them, he cut down; and the groves, the carved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and made dust of them, and scattered it upon the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 And he burned the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. 7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and 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 my eyes: I hate the work of those who turn aside; it shall not cling to me.
• Ps 106:35-38 : 35 But they were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. 36 And they served their idols, which were a snare to them. 37 Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, 38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.
• Ezek 16:47 : 47 Yet you have not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, you were corrupted more than they in all your ways.