Exodus 20:4

World English Bible (2000)

"You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֹֽ֣א תֽ͏ַעֲשֶׂ֨ה־לְךָ֥֣ פֶ֣֙סֶל֙ ׀ וְכָל־תְּמוּנָ֡֔ה אֲשֶׁ֤֣ר בַּשָּׁמַ֣֙יִם֙ ׀ מִמַּ֡֔עַל וֽ͏ַאֲשֶׁ֥ר֩ בָּאָ֖֨רֶץ מִתָּ֑͏ַ֜חַת וַאֲשֶׁ֥֣ר בַּמַּ֖֣יִם ׀ מִתַּ֥֣חַת לָאָֽ֗רֶץ

Transliteration

lōʾ ṯaʿăśeh-ləḵā pesel and-all-təmûnāh ʾăsher bash-shāmayim from-mimmaʿal wa-ʾăsher bā-ʾāreṣ mit-tāḥaṯ wa-ʾăsher bam-mayim from-mittaḥaṯ lā-ʾāreṣ

Grammar Details

• *lōʾ ṯaʿăśeh*: negative particle + qal imperfect, 2nd masculine singular - you shall not make
• *ləḵā*: preposition with 2nd masculine singular suffix - for yourself
• *pesel*: masculine singular noun - carved image/idol
• *təmûnāh*: feminine singular noun - likeness/form/representation
• *ʾăsher*: relative pronoun - that/which
• *bash-shāmayim*: preposition + definite article + masculine plural noun - in the heavens
• *mimmaʿal*: preposition + adverb - from above
• *bā-ʾāreṣ*: preposition + definite article + feminine singular noun - in the earth
• *mit-tāḥaṯ*: preposition + adverb - from below
• *bam-mayim*: preposition + definite article + masculine plural noun - in the waters
• *lā-ʾāreṣ*: preposition + definite article + feminine singular noun - to the earth

Word Meanings

• *pesel*: carved image/idol/statue
• *təmûnāh*: form/likeness/representation/semblance
• *mimmaʿal*: above/overhead
• *mit-tāḥaṯ*: beneath/below

Referenced Verses

• Lev 26:1 : 1 "'You shall make for yourselves no idols, neither shall you raise up an engraved image or a pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am Yahweh your God.
• Deut 4:15-19 : 15 Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. 16 Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; 19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
• Ps 97:7 : 7 Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!
• Deut 27:15 : 15 'Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' All the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'
• Lev 19:4 : 4 "'Don't turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
• Acts 17:29 : 29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.
• Isa 45:16 : 16 They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.
• Rev 14:9-9 : 9 Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.
• Rev 16:2 : 2 The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image.
• 1 Kgs 12:28 : 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and see your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"
• 2 Chr 33:7 : 7 He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:
• Acts 19:26-35 : 26 You see and hear, that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands. 27 Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing, and her majesty destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships." 28 When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 29 The whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel. 30 When Paul wanted to enter in to the people, the disciples didn't allow him. 31 Certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. 32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most of them didn't know why they had come together. 33 They brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made a defense to the people. 34 But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for a time of about two hours cried out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 35 When the town clerk had quieted the multitude, he said, "You men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus?
• Rom 1:23 : 23 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.
• Rev 9:20 : 20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.
• Rev 13:14-15 : 14 He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. 15 It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn't worship the image of the beast to be killed.
• Isa 46:5-8 : 5 "To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? 6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down--yes, they worship. 7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 8 "Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors.
• Jer 10:3-5 : 3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move. 5 They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don't speak: they must be carried, because they can't go. Don't be afraid of them; for they can't do evil, neither is it in them to do good."
• Jer 10:8-9 : 8 But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock. 9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men.
• Jer 10:14-16 : 14 Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 15 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 16 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
• Ezek 8:10 : 10 So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.
• Ps 115:4-8 : 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 5 They have mouths, but they don't speak. They have eyes, but they don't see. 6 They have ears, but they don't hear. They have noses, but they don't smell. 7 They have hands, but they don't feel. They have feet, but they don't walk, neither do they speak through their throat. 8 Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
• Ps 135:15-18 : 15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 16 They have mouths, but they can't speak. They have eyes, but they can't see. 17 They have ears, but they can't hear; neither is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
• Isa 40:18-20 : 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him? 19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it. 20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.
• Isa 42:8 : 8 "I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images.
• Isa 42:17 : 17 "Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, 'You are our gods' will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
• Isa 44:9-9 : 9 Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don't see, nor know, that they may be disappointed. 10 Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; and the workmen are mere men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They will fear. They will be put to shame together. 12 The blacksmith takes an axe, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches out a line. He marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes. He marks it out with compasses, and shapes it like the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to reside in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it will be for a man to burn; and he takes some of it, and warms himself. Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread. Yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it. 16 He burns part of it in the fire. With part of it, he eats meat. He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. Yes, he warms himself, and says, "Aha! I am warm. I have seen the fire." 17 The rest of it he makes into a god, even his engraved image. He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, "Deliver me; for you are my god!" 18 They don't know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can't see; and their hearts, that they can't understand. 19 No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, "I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?" 20 He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, "Isn't there a lie in my right hand?"
• Deut 4:23-25 : 23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you. 24 For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. 25 When you shall father children, and children's children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, to provoke him to anger;
• Exod 32:1 : 1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him."
• Exod 32:8 : 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"
• Exod 32:23 : 23 For they said to me, 'Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.'
• Exod 34:17 : 17 "You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.
• Deut 5:8 : 8 "You shall not make an engraved image for yourself, [nor] any likeness [of anything] that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: