Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire, lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
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Deuteronomy 4:15-18 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children— the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets. Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire, lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; 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. But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today. Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance; but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but you shall go over and possess that good land. Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you. For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. When you shall father children and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in Yahweh your God’s sight to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed. Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where Yahweh will lead you away. There you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice. For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as great as this thing is, or has been heard like it? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him. Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire. Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that Yahweh himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else. You shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for all time.
Parallel Translations
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Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire,
lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
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Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
Show all 3 translations
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Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves — for ye saw no manner of form on the day that the LORD spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire —
lest ye deal corruptly, and make you a graven image, even the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the heaven,
the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (27)
- Acts 17:29 (v16) 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…
- Isaiah 40:18 (vv15–16) To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
- Deuteronomy 4:12 (v15) Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 (v15) in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the…
- Deuteronomy 4:23 (vv15–16) Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of…
Show all 25 cross-references
- Exodus 20:4-5 (v16) “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…
- Deuteronomy 5:8 (v16) “You shall not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the…
- Malachi 2:15 (v15) Did he not make you one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit,…
- Romans 1:22-24 (v16) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of…
- Romans 1:23 (v17) and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed animals, and…
- Exodus 32:7 (v16) Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves!
- Deuteronomy 4:9 (v15) Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all…
- Joshua 23:11 (v15) Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love Yahweh your God.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9-10 (v15) You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all…
- Psalms 119:9 (v15) How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
- Proverbs 4:23 (v15) Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.
- Proverbs 4:27 (v15) Don’t turn to the right hand nor to the left. Remove your foot from evil.
- Jeremiah 17:21 (v15) Yahweh says, “Be careful, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.
- Hebrews 1:3 (v15) His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had…
- Deuteronomy 4:8-9 (v16) What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today? Only be careful, and…
- Deuteronomy 4:25 (v16) When you shall father children and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a…
- Psalms 106:19-20 (v16) They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.
- John 4:24 (v16) God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
- Acts 20:4-5 (v16) These accompanied him as far as Asia: Sopater of Beroea; Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians; Gaius of Derbe; Timothy; and…
- 1 Timothy 1:17 (v16) Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
25 distinct cross-references across this passage (27 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v15 Hebrew, souls.
Hebrew, souls.
Signifying, that destruction is prepared for all them that make any image to represent God.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Deu 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves;…
Deu 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day [that] the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Ver. 15. Take ye therefore good heed.] These many cautions note our proneness to this evil above others. This appeareth somewhat in children so delighted with pictures, and in that idolomania of these Jews, of the eastern churches, and of the synagogue of Rome.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–17 By which caution he insinuates man’s great proneness to…
By which caution he insinuates man’s great proneness to the worship of images.
God, who in other places and times did appear in a similitude, in the fashion of a man, now in this most solemn appearance, when he comes to give eternal laws for the regulation and direction of the Israelites in the worship of God, and in their duty to men, he purposely avoids all such representations, to show that he abhors all worship of images, or of himself by images of what kind soever, as it here follows, Deu 4:16-19, because he is the invisible God, and cannot be represented by any visible image. See Isa 40:18; Act 17:29.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves,.... As to…
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves,.... As to keep all the laws given them, so particularly to avoid idolatry:
for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire; and therefore, as they had nothing that directed and led them, so they had nothing that could be a temptation to them, to make any form or likeness, and worship it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15–16 In Horeb - God, who in other places and…
In Horeb - God, who in other places and times did appear in a similitude in the fashion of a man, now in this most solemn appearance, when he comes to give eternal laws for the direction of the Israelites in the worship of God, and in their duty to men, purposely avoids all such representations, to shew that he abhors all worship of images, or of himself by images of what kind soever, because he is the invisible God, and cannot be represented by any visible image.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Verse 15. Ye saw no manner of similitude] Howsoever…
Verse 15. Ye saw no manner of similitude] Howsoever God chose to appear or manifest himself, he took care never to assume any describable form. He would have no image worship, because he is a SPIRIT, and they who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth. These outward things tend to draw the mind out of itself, and diffuse it on sensible, if not sensual, objects; and thus spiritual worship is prevented, and the Holy Ghost grieved. Persons acting in this way can never know much of the religion of the heart.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Deu 4:15. Ye saw no similitude in Horeb —…
Deu 4:15. Ye saw no similitude in Horeb — God, who, in some other places and times, did appear in a human form, now in this most solemn appearance, when he came to give eternal laws for the direction of the Israelites in the worship of himself, and in their duty to their fellow- creatures, purposely avoided all such representations, to show that he abhors all worship by images, of what kind soever, because he is the invisible God, and cannot be represented by any visible image.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v15 Carefully. Hebrew, "Be therefore particularly attentive, as much as…
Carefully. Hebrew, "Be therefore particularly attentive, as much as you love your own soul." (Vatable) By keeping my commandments you can alone obtain salvation, ver. 9. (Menochius) --- Similitude of any living creature, such as were the objects of adoration among the pagans. Some represented their gods under the forms of men, women, beasts, birds, or reptiles; while others adored the sun, moon, and stars. (Haydock) --- This last was indeed the most ancient species of idolatry, Job xxi. 26. Baal, Astarte, Moloc, Chamos, &c., were different names by which they denoted the heavenly bodies. But the Egyptians carried their superstition to the greatest excess. There was hardly any sort of animal which did not obtain sovereign worship among them. (Calmet) --- Their great gods, Isis and Osiris, were sometimes depicted like a man and woman; at other times, like beasts, and frequently they appeared with parts of both. The head of Isis was generally adorned or disfigured with the horns of a bull; (Haydock) and that animal, either alive or in a picture, as well as dogs and cats, were adored throughout the country, while some places had their peculiar idols. The lion, the wolf, and the fish called latus, gave their names to the cities Leontopolis, &c., which had a particular veneration for them. Moses takes care to inform the Hebrews that the true God is like none of these things; and that they cannot pretend to represent him under any such forms, without doing him an injury. (Calmet) --- If Catholics endeavour to put the people in mind of the blessed Trinity, by representing a venerable old man, Jesus Christ in his human nature, and a dove, under which forms the Scripture has introduced the three divine persons, they do not pretend that their divine and most spiritual nature can be thus expressed. "If," says the Council of Trent, Session 25, "the historical accounts of Scripture be sometimes set forth in paintings, for the benefit of the illiterate, let the people be informed that the Divinity is not thus represented with a design to insinuate that it may be seen with the eyes of the body." So neither can the figure of a triangle, with the ineffable name of God in Hebrew, &c., explain this adorable mystery. But such things may recall to our remembrance, the innumerable benefits which we have received from the three divine persons, after we have been once informed what we have to believe respecting them. This is the laudable motive which has induced the Church to encourage the keeping of such pictures, as well as those of the saints, with due respect. "Not as if we believed that any divinity or virtue resided in them for which they were to be worshipped, or that we should ask any thing of them, or place our confidence in images, as the Gentiles formerly did, who hoped in their idols, (Psalm cxxxiv.,) but because the honour given to them is referred to the originals, which they represent," &c. (Council of Trent, Session 25.) (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–16 A PARTICULAR DISSUASIVE AGAINST IDOLATRY. (Deu. 4:14-40)
A PARTICULAR DISSUASIVE AGAINST IDOLATRY. (Deu. 4:14-40)
Take . . . good heed . . . for ye saw no manner of similitude--The extreme proneness of the Israelites to idolatry, from their position in the midst of surrounding nations already abandoned to its seductions, accounts for their attention being repeatedly drawn to the fact that God did not appear on Sinai in any visible form; and an earnest caution, founded on that remarkable circumstance, is given to beware, not only of making representations of false gods, but also any fancied representation of the true God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v15 IDOLATRY SPECIALLY FORBIDDEN, Deu_4:15-24.
IDOLATRY SPECIALLY FORBIDDEN, Deu_4:15-24.
Idolatry in various and in most gross forms prevailed throughout the East among the nations with whom Israel would be brought in contact. Moses in these few passages comprehends the various form of idolatry prevalent.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. ye saw no manner of form] Resumes and…
15. ye saw no manner of form] Resumes and repeats the reminder in Deu_4:12 in a way that would have been unnecessary but for the digression in 13 f.; and proves that the latter is original. Form, Heb. temûnah.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–16 (15) Ye saw no manner of similitude.—The worship of…
(15) Ye saw no manner of similitude.—The worship of the invisible Jehovah is here specially insisted on. The difficulty of learning to worship one whom we cannot see is, happily, one which our education does not enable us to realise in its relation to Israel of old. All nations had their visible symbols of deity. Centuries afterwards the world described the followers of Christ as Atheists, because they had no visible God. It is especially recorded in praise of Moses that “he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb_11:27).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Vers. 15-20. As the people had seen no form…
Vers. 15-20. As the people had seen no form or figure when God spake to them, so they were to beware for their very lives (cf. ver. 9) of acting corruptly by making any kind of image, whether of man or of beast, for the purpose of worshipping God as represented by it; they were also to beware of being so attracted by the splendor of the heavenly bodies as to be forcibly seduced to worship them and offer them religious service. They were not in this respect to imitate the heathen; for God, who had delivered them out of the furnace of Egyptian bondage, had taken them for himself to be his special possession; and therefore they were to take heed not to forget the covenant of Jehovah their God, nor to offend him by making any image or representation of him as the object of worship. Among the heathen, and especially in Egypt, images were the very pillar and support of religion; but in Israel, as God had revealed himself to them without form, it was as a spirit he was to be worshipped, and not under any outward representation.
Vers. 15-20. Warning against heathenish idolatry.
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I THE ORIGIN OF HEATHEN IDOLATRY. The result of a "corruption" (Per. 16). Not a stage in the advance upwards from fetishism, etc.; but, as inquiries are tending more and more to show, the consequence:
1. Of a depravation of the idea of God.
2. Of a corruption of the worship of God.
3. Arising in turn from the substitution of the creature for God in the affections (cf. Rom_1:20-26)
II THE FORMS OF HEATHEN IDOLATRY.
1. Hero-worship (ver. 16).
2. Animal-worship (vers. 17, 18).
3. Nature-worship (ver. 19).
Greek idolatry furnishes conspicuous instances of the first; Egypt was notorious for the second, so Hinduism; while Parseeism, and the early Vedic worship illustrates the third (cf. Job_31:21)
III THE FRUITS OF HEATHEN IDOLATRY.
1. A degraded intellect.
2. Degraded affections.
3. Degraded morals. (Ro 1)
Therefore Israel must not "corrupt" themselves. J.O.
Vers. 15-24. The Divine jealousy of graven images.
The great temptation of Israel was to idolatry. Images were worshipped by all those nations among whom they came, and they were in constant danger of conforming to the sinful practice. Hence this warning and statement about the Divine jealousy. Let us observe
I THAT JEALOUSY PRESUPPOSES LOVE. Love must be strong as death, else jealousy will not be cruel as the grave; nor will its coals prove coals of fire, having a most vehement flame. (Son_8:6) The God who proves so jealous is he whose essence is love. If God did not love men so much, he would not be so jealous when they turn away from him. He knows that, as a wife cannot be happy separated from her loving husband, no more can the human spirit be, away from him. Israel then and we now have to deal with a God of love.
II GOD IS JEALOUS WHEN MEN GIVE HIM VISIBILITY. Idolatry is trying to help worship through the aid of the senses. The image is not regarded as the god, but his likeness. Man embodies his ideas of God in outward forms. But imagination is not creative; it combines in new relations what has already been given to it. Hence idolatry has never done more than place the creatures, whether beast, or bird, or fish, or reptile, or the heavenly bodies, in new relations to the invisible Divinity. God resents this visibility as degradation. He knows that man becomes degraded by such associations. Hence his deserved wrath against idolatry.
III IF GOD BE NOT OUR KINDLING FLAME, HE WILL IN JEALOUSY BE OUR CONSUMING FIRE. It is at the torch of the Divine that the human soul becomes enkindled. The flaming fires of Pentecost sublimate the soul and fit it for primeval powers. It is this warning, elevating influence that is love"s natural action. But when rebellious man turns the grace of God into lasciviousness; when love is ignored instead of returned, and the soul seeks in the things of sense what God only cad give, then love begins to burn as jealousy with a vehement, consuming flame.
IV IT BECOMES US CONSEQUENTLY TO WORSHIP GOD IN THE SPIRIT. We must keep upon the serene heights of faith, and not fall into the degradation of superstition. We are made for better things than weakly to associate in our minds the invisible and eternal God with the creatures of sense. Let us give faith proper scope, and the worship of God will prove both possible and delightful. But the worship of God through images makes stocks and stones of men. "They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them". (Psa_115:8) May our worship raise us and not degrade us! Superstition degrades, but worship of the invisible God in the Spirit elevates and ennobles our souls. R.M.E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v15 saw no manner
saw no manner
Cf. (See Scofield "Joh 1:18").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel.
Read full note →
So take great heed to yourselves
Possible meanings are 1) "So you need to be very careful how you act" or 2) "Guard your souls carefully."
do not corrupt yourselves
"do not do what is wrong"
creeps on the ground
"crawls on the ground"
translationWords
Yahweh
Horeb
corrupt
image
like
creature
beast
heaven
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15–16 4:15 form: No image could capture the transcendent glory…
4:15 form: No image could capture the transcendent glory and power of the invisible God (Neh 9:20; Isa 63:10-14; Zech 4:6; John 4:24). Any form of the Lord could become an object of worship in lieu of worshiping God himself.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.