Leviticus 26:1

Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

`Ye do not make to yourselves idols; and graven image or standing image ye do not set up to yourselves; and a stone of imagery ye do not put in your land, to bow yourselves to it; for I `am' Jehovah your God.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֹֽא־תַעֲשׂ֨וּ לָכֶ֜ם אֱלִילִ֗ם וּפֶ֤סֶל וּמַצֵּבָה֙ לֹֽא־תָקִ֣ימוּ לָכֶ֔ם וְאֶ֣בֶן מַשְׂכִּ֗ית לֹ֤א תִתְּנוּ֙ בְּאַרְצְכֶ֔ם לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֖ת עָלֶ֑יהָ כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

Transliteration

Not taʿaśû to-you ʾelîlîm and-pesel and-maṣṣēbâ not tāqîmû to-you and-ʾeben maśkît not tittenû in-ʾarṣekem to-hištaḥăwōt upon-it for I YHWH ʾĕlōhêkem

Grammar Details

• *taʿaśû*: verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural - you shall make
• *ʾelîlîm*: noun, masculine plural - idols/worthless things
• *pesel*: noun, masculine singular - carved image/idol
• *maṣṣēbâ*: noun, feminine singular - pillar/standing stone
• *tāqîmû*: verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural - you shall set up/erect
• *ʾeben*: noun, feminine singular construct - stone of
• *maśkît*: noun, feminine singular - carved figure/imagery
• *tittenû*: verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural - you shall put/place
• *ʾarṣekem*: noun, feminine singular + 2nd person masculine plural suffix - your land
• *hištaḥăwōt*: verb, hitpael infinitive construct - to bow down/worship
• *YHWH*: proper noun - the divine name
• *ʾĕlōhêkem*: noun, masculine plural + 2nd person masculine plural suffix - your God

Word Meanings

• *ʾelîlîm*: idols/worthless gods/nothings
• *pesel*: carved image/graven image/idol
• *maṣṣēbâ*: pillar/standing stone/sacred pillar
• *ʾeben maśkît*: figured stone/stone with imagery/decorated stone
• *hištaḥăwōt*: to bow down/prostrate oneself/worship

Referenced Verses

• Lev 19:4 : 4 `Ye do not turn unto the idols, and a molten god ye do not make to yourselves; I `am' Jehovah your God.
• Exod 23:24 : 24 `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.
• Exod 20:4-5 : 4 `Thou dost not make to thyself a graven image, or any likeness which `is' in the heavens above, or which `is' in the earth beneath, or which `is' in the waters under the earth. 5 Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, `am' a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third `generation', and on the fourth, of those hating Me,
• Exod 20:23 : 23 ye do not make with Me gods of silver, even gods of gold ye do not make to yourselves.
• Num 33:52 : 52 then ye have dispossessed all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and have destroyed all their imagery, yea, all their molten images ye destroy, and all their high places ye lay waste,
• Deut 16:21-22 : 21 `Thou dost not plant for thee a shrine of any trees near the altar of Jehovah thy God, which thou makest for thyself, 22 and thou dost not raise up to thee any standing image which Jehovah thy God is hating.
• Deut 27:15 : 15 `Cursed `is' the man who maketh a graven and molten image, the abomination of Jehovah, work of the hands of an artificer, and hath put `it' in a secret place, -- and all the people have answered and said, Amen.
• Ps 97:7 : 7 Ashamed are all servants of a graven image, Those boasting themselves in idols, Bow yourselves to him, all ye gods.
• Ps 115:4-8 : 4 Their idols `are' silver and gold, work of man's hands, 5 A mouth they have, and they speak not, Eyes they have, and they see not, 6 Ears they have, and they hear not, A nose they have, and they smell not, 7 Their hands, but they handle not, Their feet, and they walk not; 8 Nor do they mutter through their throat, Like them are their makers, Every one who is trusting in them.
• Isa 2:20 : 20 In that day doth man cast his idols of silver, And his idols of gold, That they have made for him to worship, To moles, and to bats,
• Isa 44:9-9 : 9 Framers of a graven image `are' all of them emptiness, And their desirable things do not profit, And their own witnesses they `are', They see not, nor know, that they may be ashamed. 10 Who hath formed a god, And a molten image poured out -- not profitable? 11 Lo, all his companions are ashamed, As to artizans -- they `are' of men, All of them gather together, they stand up, They fear, they are ashamed together. 12 He hath wrought iron `with' an axe, And hath wrought with coals, And with hammers doth form it, And doth work it by his powerful arm, Yea, he is hungry, and there is no power, He doth not drink water, and he is wearied. 13 He hath wrought `with' wood, He hath stretched out a rule, He doth mark it out with a line, He maketh it with carving tools, And with a compass he marketh it out, And maketh it according to the form of a man, According to the beauty of a man, To remain in the house. 14 Cutting down to himself cedars, He taketh also a cypress, and an oak, And he strengtheneth `it' for himself Among the trees of a forest, He hath planted an ash, and the shower doth nourish `it'. 15 And it hath been for man to burn, And he taketh of them, and becometh warm, Yea, he kindleth `it', and hath baked bread, Yea, he maketh a god, and boweth himself, He hath made it a graven image, And he falleth down to it. 16 Half of it he hath burnt in the fire, By `this' half of it he eateth flesh, He roasteth a roasting, and is satisfied, Yea, he is warm, and saith: `Aha, I have become warm, I have enjoyed the light. 17 And its remnant for a god he hath made -- For his graven image, He falleth down to it, and worshippeth, And prayeth unto it, and he saith, `Deliver me, for my god thou `art'.' 18 They have not known, nor do they understand, For He hath daubed their eyes from seeing, Their heart from acting wisely. 19 And none doth turn `it' back unto his heart, Nor hath knowledge nor understanding to say, `Half of it I have burned in the fire, Yea, also, I have baked bread over its coals, I roast flesh and I eat, And its remnant for an abomination I make, To the stock of a tree I fall down.' 20 Feeding on ashes, the heart is deceived, It hath turned him aside, And he delivereth not his soul, nor saith: `Is there not a lie in my right hand?'
• Isa 48:5-8 : 5 And I declare to thee from that time, Before it cometh I have caused thee to hear, Lest thou say, `Mine idol hath done them, And my graven image, And my molten image did command them. 6 Thou hast heard, see the whole of it, And ye, do ye not declare? I have caused thee to hear new things from this time, And things reserved that ye knew not. 7 Now they have been produced and not from that time, Yea, before the day, and thou hast not heard them, Lest thou say, `Lo, I have known them.' 8 Yea, thou hast not heard, Yea, thou hast not known, Yea, from that time not opened hath thine ear, For I have known thou dealest treacherously, And `Transgressor from the belly,' One is crying to thee.
• Jer 10:3-8 : 3 For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, For a tree from a forest hath one cut, Work of the hands of an artificer, with an axe, 4 With silver and with gold they beautify it, With nails and with hammers they fix it, And it doth not stumble. 5 As a palm they `are' stiff, and they speak not, They are surely borne, for they step not, Be not afraid of them, for they do no evil, Yea, also to do good is not in them. 6 Because there is none like Thee, O Jehovah, Great `art' Thou, and great Thy name in might. 7 Who doth not fear Thee, king of the nations? For to Thee it is becoming, For among all the wise of the nations, And in all their kingdom there is none like Thee. 8 And in one they are brutish and foolish, An instruction of vanities `is' the tree itself.
• Acts 17:29 : 29 `Being, therefore, offspring of God, we ought not to think the Godhead to be like to gold, or silver, or stone, graving of art and device of man;
• Rom 2:22-23 : 22 thou who art preaching not to steal, dost thou steal? thou who art saying not to commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou who art abhorring the idols, dost thou rob temples? 23 thou who in the law dost boast, through the transgression of the law God dost thou dishonour?
• 1 Cor 10:19-20 : 19 what then do I say? that an idol is anything? or that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything? -- 20 `no,' but that the things that the nations sacrifice -- they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not wish you to come into the fellowship of the demons.
• Rev 13:14-15 : 14 and it leadeth astray those dwelling on the land, because of the signs that were given it to do before the beast, saying to those dwelling upon the land to make an image to the beast that hath the stroke of the sword and did live, 15 and there was given to it to give a spirit to the image of the beast, that also the image of the beast may speak, and `that' it may cause as many as shall not bow before the image of the beast, that they may be killed.
• Rev 22:15 : 15 and without `are' the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the whoremongers, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one who is loving and is doing a lie.
• Deut 4:16-19 : 16 lest ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form of male or female -- 17 a form of any beast which `is' in the earth -- a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens -- 18 a form of any creeping thing on the ground -- a form of any fish which `is' in the waters under the earth; 19 `And lest thou lift up thine eyes towards the heavens, and hast seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and thou hast been forced, and hast bowed thyself to them, and served them, which Jehovah thy God hath apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens.
• Deut 5:8-9 : 8 `Thou dost not make to thee a graven image, any similitude which `is' in the heavens above, and which `is' in the earth beneath, and which `is' in the waters under the earth; 9 thou dost not bow thyself to them nor serve them, for I Jehovah thy God `am' a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on children, and on a third `generation', and on a fourth, to those hating Me;
• Exod 34:17 : 17 a molten god thou dost not make to thyself.