Exodus 23:32

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

“You must make no covenant with them or with their gods.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֹֽא־תִכְרֹ֥ת לָהֶ֛ם וְלֵאלֹֽהֵיהֶ֖ם בְּרִֽית׃

Transliteration

Not-tikrōt to-them and-to-ʾĕlōhêhem bĕrît

Grammar Details

• *tikrōt*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - cut/make
• *ʾĕlōhêhem*: noun masculine plural with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their gods
• *bĕrît*: noun feminine singular - covenant/agreement

Word Meanings

• *tikrōt bĕrît*: make a covenant/cut an agreement/establish a treaty
• *ʾĕlōhêhem*: their gods/deities

Referenced Verses

• Deut 7:2 : 2 and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy!
• Exod 34:12 : 12 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you.
• Exod 34:15 : 15 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;
• Num 25:1-2 : 1 Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. 2 These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
• Deut 7:16 : 16 Exhortation to Destroy Canaanite Paganism You must destroy all the people whom the LORD your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
• Josh 9:14-23 : 14 The men examined some of their provisions, but they failed to ask the LORD’s advice. 15 Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community sealed it with an oath. 16 Three days after they made the treaty with them, the Israelites found out they were from the local area and lived nearby. 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities– Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18 The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the LORD God of Israel. The whole community criticized the leaders, 19 but all the leaders told the whole community,“We swore an oath to them in the name of the LORD God of Israel. So now we can’t hurt them! 20 We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.” 21 The leaders then added,“Let them live.” So they became woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided. 22 Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them,“Why did you trick us by saying,‘We live far away from you,’ when you really live nearby? 23 Now you are condemned to perpetual servitude as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
• 2 Sam 21:1-2 : 1 The Gibeonites Demand Revenge During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the LORD. The LORD said,“It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, because he murdered the Gibeonites.” 2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them.(Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
• Ps 106:35 : 35 They mixed in with the nations and learned their ways.
• 2 Cor 6:15 : 15 And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever?