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.
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Deuteronomy 4:15-23 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;
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.
-
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:
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
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;
and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven.
But you hath the LORD taken and brought forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
Now the LORD was angered with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance;
but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but ye are to go over, and possess that good land.
Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image, even the likeness of any thing which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (91)
- Romans 1:25 (v19) who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
- Deuteronomy 17:3 (v19) and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the sky, which I have not commanded,
- 2 Kings 21:3 (v19) For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he raised up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as Ahab…
- Genesis 1:16-18 (v19) God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God set…
- Genesis 2:1 (v19) The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.
Show all 86 cross-references
- 2 Kings 17:16 (v19) They abandoned all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made molten images for themselves, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and…
- Joshua 10:12-13 (v19) Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. He said in the sight of Israel,…
- 1 Kings 8:51 (v20) (for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace);
- Nehemiah 9:6 (v19) You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it,…
- Psalms 148:3-5 (v19) Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you heavens of heavens, you waters that are above the heavens. Let…
- Numbers 20:12 (v21) Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you…
- Deuteronomy 1:37 (v21) Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also shall not go in there.
- Deuteronomy 3:25 (v22) Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon.”
- Jeremiah 11:4 (v20) which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace,’ saying, ‘Obey my voice,…
- 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…
- Deuteronomy 4:9 (vv15, 23) 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…
- Isaiah 40:18 (vv15–16) To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
- Exodus 19:5-6 (v20) Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all…
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 9:29 (v20) Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”
- Deuteronomy 32:9 (v20) For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
- Psalms 74:16-17 (v19) The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun. You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have…
- Psalms 106:32-33 (v21) They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes; because they were rebellious against his…
- Psalms 136:7-9 (v19) to him who made the great lights; for his loving kindness endures forever: the sun to rule by day; for his loving kindness endures forever;…
- Jeremiah 33:25 (v19) Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
- Amos 5:25-26 (v19) “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel? You also carried the tent of your king and…
- Matthew 5:45 (v19) that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just…
- 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…
- Exodus 20:4-5 (vv16, 23) “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 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…
- Deuteronomy 3:27 (v22) Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you…
- 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…
- Job 31:26-28 (v19) if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss…
- Psalms 135:4 (v20) For Yah has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own possession.
- Isaiah 63:17-18 (v20) O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your…
- Jeremiah 8:2 (v19) They will spread them before the sun, the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, which they have served, after which…
- Jeremiah 19:13 (v19) The houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on…
- Jeremiah 31:35 (v19) Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea,…
- 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…
- Titus 2:14 (v20) who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
- 1 Peter 2:9 (v20) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
- Joshua 23:11 (vv15, 23) Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love Yahweh your God.
- 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 3:26 (v21) But Yahweh was angry with me because of you, and didn’t listen to me. Yahweh said to me, “That is enough! Speak no more to me of this…
- Deuteronomy 9:26 (v20) I prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness,…
- Deuteronomy 29:25 (v23) Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them…
- Deuteronomy 31:2 (v21) He said to them, “I am one hundred twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. Yahweh has said to me, ‘You shall not go over…
- Deuteronomy 31:20 (v23) For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled…
- Joshua 23:16 (v23) when you disobey the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them.…
- 2 Kings 23:4-5 (v19) The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of Yahweh’s…
- 2 Kings 23:11 (v19) He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of Yahweh’s house, by the room of Nathan Melech the…
- 1 Chronicles 16:15 (v23) Remember his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
- 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 28:9 (v20) Save your people, and bless your inheritance. Be their shepherd also, and bear them up forever.
- Psalms 33:12 (v20) Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
- 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.
- Isaiah 24:5 (v23) The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the…
- 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.
- Ezekiel 8:16 (v19) He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and I saw at the door of Yahweh’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were…
- Ezekiel 16:59 (v23) “ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
- Zephaniah 1:5 (v19) those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam,
- Matthew 24:4 (v23) Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.
- Acts 7:42 (v19) But God turned, and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain…
- 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…
- Hebrews 3:12 (v23) Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
- Hebrews 12:6-10 (v22) for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with…
- 2 Peter 1:13-15 (v22) I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly,…
- 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 4:15-16 (v23) 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…
- 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…
- Deuteronomy 6:12 (v23) then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
- Deuteronomy 27:9 (v23) Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, Israel! Today you have become the people of Yahweh your…
- 1 Kings 13:21-22 (v22) and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have been disobedient to Yahweh’s mouth, and…
- 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.
- Jeremiah 31:22 (v23) How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman will encompass a…
- Luke 12:15 (v23) He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he…
- Luke 21:8 (v23) He said, “Watch out that you don’t get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Therefore…
- 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…
- Ephesians 1:18 (v20) having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his…
- Amos 3:2 (v22) “I have only chosen you of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.”
- 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.
86 distinct cross-references across this passage (91 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15, 19, 20, 22 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 vv15–22 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, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23 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 vv15–23 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, 19 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, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 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, 19, 20, 21, 23 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.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v19 Divided - i. e., “whose light God has distributed…
Divided - i. e., “whose light God has distributed to the nations for their use and benefit, and which therefore being creatures ministering to man’s convenience must not be worshipped as man’s lords.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15, 19, 20, 21, 23 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, 20 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 vv15, 19, 20, 21 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, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23 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, 19, 21 (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, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23 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.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv20–21 The Lord hath taken you.
Deu_4:20
The Lord hath taken you.
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, to be unto Him a people of inheritance.
The chosen of the Lord
I. The people alluded to.
1. The title they may claim. The chosen of God.
2. The mercy shown. The Lord hath taken you.
3. The practical result. Hath brought you forth.
(1) A wonderful work.
(2) Miraculous.
(3) Wise.
(4) All-sufficient.
(5) Complete.
II. The place whence removed. The iron furnace.
1. The rigour of the imprisonment.
2. The bitterness of the position. The land of Egypt is always used in Scripture to represent the kingdom of Satan. And so the idea here developed is the deliverance of Gods Church
(1) from the dominion of the devil, the power he exercises over the soul, and the rigour of his exactions;
(2) from the servitude of sin, and its cruel, unremitting slavery of toil;
(3) from the alienation of a distant land--a country which is not our home. Gods grace and power has accomplished all this on our behalf.
III. The position provided. It is worthy of notice that this position is not one of mere selfish gratification. It is one that promoted first and chiefly the glory of God. There are two particulars given.
1. God selected and delivered His people that they may be His people. This is a condition of high honour--to be the people of the Most High is worthy of an archangel. It is a condition of blessed security. The people of God are as the apple of His eye. He will guide and protect them as the most precious treasures. It is a position of glorious anticipation.
2. God selects His people that they may be His inheritance. (Preachers Analyst.)
Gods heritage
Israel was the only people on earth chosen by God of old. This came to pass because of the faith of Abraham. God was the God of Abrahams posterity. The choice was absolute and universal. All might go forth from Egypt. Young and old, man and wife, sick and sound, etc., etc. In brief, all that pertained to the people might go forth over the Red Sea and sing Gods praise. How great, then, was the Divine mercy! And what hope does this give us in view of the thought that there will be many received into the kingdom of heaven--a number greater and more comprehensive, it may be, than men sometimes think.
I. Israel was Gods heritage.
1. He calls them His heritage. He desired at least to have one spot on earth whilst as yet all earth was subject to the prince of this world. Such could only come through a faithful man, who had become free from this servitude. Such was Abraham, who was commanded to sojourn in Canaan. This land God chose as His own; and the people to whom He gave it were to be inheritors of the land, and therefore a people of inheritance unto Him.
2. Thus Moses warned them that in this land, which was a consecrated land, no idolatry must find place. It was to be separated from all lands in which the prince of this world had sway. The land remained consecrated to God, His peculiar possession even when defiled by the people, i.e. when it took on the character of a heathen land, and because of this was, for a time, forsaken, as during the Exile.
II. The whole earth is now Gods.
1. Since Christ died Canaan ceased to be the especially holy land consecrated to God. Now the whole earth belongs to Him, for now the prince of the world has been ousted. Every spot is now Gods holy land, where Gods children gather together--where the true God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent are worshipped. Humanity is now Gods heritage, purchased by the blood of Christ.
2. The idea, therefore, that Israel will again have to occupy Canaan as Gods inheritance has no support, for the whole earth is the Lords, all is equally His, as once Canaan was. God will have Himself to be acknowledged everywhere as once He was in Canaan. Wherefore, then, now a holy land in opposition to other lands? Now we sing with the angels, Holy, etc., the whole earth is full of His glory, i.e. the glory of God is to be extolled now everywhere as once in Canaan. Therefore the Lord said to His disciples: Blessed are the meek, etc.
not only citizens of the erstwhile holy land only, but of the whole world.
3. May we, through our faith and our reliance on God and Him whom He has sent, make every place holy ground, as the possession of Gods inheritance. For He fills all with the fulness of His Divine glory, or will yet fill all. (J. C. Blumhardt.)
Gods deliverance of Israel out of the iron furnace
First, for the terms of their deliverance, to speak of them, which are here propounded two manner of ways, in the general and in the particular. The general, Egypt. The particular, the furnace of iron.
I. We begin first of all with the general proposition, which, though it be last in order of Scripture, yet is first in order of nature, and that is Egypt. This was the place which they were delivered from, which when we have considered how miserable a place it was, and especially to them, we shall see the greatness of their deliverance. The place, I say, in general was Egypt, which we find these Israelites to be very often put in mind of in Scripture upon all occasions (Deu_5:15; Deu_16:12; Deu_24:18; Deu_24:22).
1. It was a place of exile or peregrination. This the Scripture does very much insist on. That they were strangers in the land of Egypt (Psa_114:1). The world to the children of God is but as the land of strangers. It is heaven which is their proper home and their Fathers house. It should make them the more willing to go when God calls them by seasonable dissolution, in that here they are but in a land of strangers. That was not all, nor the main thing, which was considerable in Egypt.
2. It was, moreover, a land of idolaters. There is matter of pollution. It was hard for Israel to be long in Egypt, and not in a great measure to partake with them in their idolatries. Oh, it is a great mercy to be kept from sinful allurements, especially considering what inclinations are in ourselves to the closing with them, we have a nature in us which is like dry tinder to these sparks. And therefore to be prevented from the occasion is so much the greater advantage. As there is pollution in these things in regard of nature, so there is offensiveness in regard of grace. Evil examples and temptations, if they do not defile us, yet they cannot but offend and grieve us and expose us more to sin, so they trouble us and expose us more to grief, prove wearisome and tedious to us. There is also danger in them, too, in regard to the consequents. Danger both to body and soul. For ourselves, let us bless God that He has graciously given us the opportunities of knowledge, and delivered us from the Egypt both of Paganism and Popery.
II. The second is as it is laid down in particular, and that is the iron furnace (1Ki_8:51; Jer_11:4).
1. First, here is affliction in general compared to a furnace (Isa_48:10). Afflictions are the fiery trial to test Gods people, and purge away the dross (1Pe_4:12).
2. For this affliction in particular which now happened to Israel, it is called the iron furnace. Both in the letter and in the moral. In the letter. First, because those furnaces which they wrought in were such as in which iron was melted. And so from the work they were employed in, furnaces of iron. But then secondly, of iron in the moral. First, an hard and laborious employment. Iron is an emblem of severity. Then, secondly, as from the sharpness of it, so from the continuance of it likewise (Psalm evil. 20). The use which we are to make of this observation to ourselves is therefore, first, not to wonder at it, or to think much of it, but to expect it. The refiner puts the gold into the furnace, and the potter puts the clay into the fire, and both of them to very good purpose; and so does God. Again, we should be careful to find afflictions to have this efficacy upon us, to wit, of refining us.
III. The Author of their deliverance, and that is expressed here to be God himself the Lord.
1. First, it is He alone hath the bowels, it is He alone that hath the strength. Deliverance of others out of trouble is an act of pity and compassion. Now, none but only God has so much of this in them towards the Church; we shall see in the book of the Lamentations the complaining of the want of commiseration in others towards her; but this God hath in Him abundance.
2. Secondly, none but He hath the strength. The adversaries of the Church are potent, and therefore need to have one of power to deal with them. And this is God Himself; the Almighty and All-sufficient. Therefore still let Him be both repaired to, as also acknowledged in such providences as these are.
IV. The manner of it. This we have expressed in two words, Taken you and brought you forth. Though one might have served the turn for the signification of the deliverance, yet two are made use of to make it so much the more emphatical.
1. First, an emphasis of appropriation, taken you, that is, laid claim unto you, as a man that seizes upon that which is his own when it is in the hand of strangers.
2. Secondly, as there is in it an emphasis of appropriation, so likewise an emphasis of affection. He hath taken you, that is, with a great deal of tenderness and regard unto you (Deu_22:11).
Hath brought you, and this, as well as the other, hath a double force in it.
1. First, there is power in it. Bring you forth, that is, forced you forth, whether your enemies would or no.
2. Secondly, there is also solemnity in it. He brought them forth, i.e. in triumph, as with a strong hand so with a stretched-out arm, as the Scripture also expresses it (Deu_5:15). Now, from both these expressions together we see the thing itself sufficiently declared, that God did at last deliver His people out of captivity (Psa_81:6; Psa_81:8; Psa_81:13). Though God suffers His servants sometimes to fall into the hand of their enemies, yet He does at length free them from them. This He doth upon divers considerations. First, out of His own compassion (Psa_103:9; Isa_57:16). Secondly, out of respect to His people, lest they should be discouraged and provoked to evil (Psa_125:3). Thirdly, out of regard to the enemies, lest they should insult (Deu_32:26-27). Let this, therefore, be the use which we make of it to ourselves. First, to expect it, whereas yet it is not. Secondly, to acknowledge it, and to improve it there where it is. And so much may suffice to have spoken of the first general part of the text, namely, the deliverance itself.
V. The end or consequent of this deliverance, and that we have in these words, To be unto Him a people of inheritance as ye are this day. In which passage we have again two particulars. First, the design itself, and secondly, the amplification of it. The design itself, To be unto Him a people of inheritance. The amplification of it. As ye are this day. I begin with the first, namely, the design itself, To be unto Him a people of inheritance, This is that which God aimed at concerning Israel. Now, this may again admit of a double interpretation, either so as for Him to be their inheritance, or else so as for them to be His. The Scripture makes mention of either in sundry places. First, for Him to be theirs. This is the privilege of Gods people. That the Lord Himself is their portion and inheritance and so expresses Himself to be to them (Psa_16:5). David, speaking of himself, The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup: Thou maintainest the lot. And so of Levi it is said, that the Lord is his inheritance (Deu_10:9). And the Church, (Lam_3:24) The Lord is my portion, etc. This is a great comfort to the godly, and to those which are most destitute amongst them, to live upon the power of this truth, what though they have none of the great inheritance of the world. Yet as long as they have a portion in God they have that which may abundantly satisfy them, and keep them from dejection, forasmuch as from henceforth no good thing shall be wanting unto them, He that overcometh shall inherit all things. How so? It follows in the next words, And I will be his God, etc. (Rev_21:7). The second is for them to be His. This is another thing which the Scripture makes mention of (Psa_33:12; Deu_32:9; Psa_28:9). An inheritance contains three things in it. First, some good and advantage. Secondly, peculiarity and propriety of interest. Thirdly, succession and derivation of it to posterity. Now, according to all these notions of it does God make choice of His people to be an inheritance to Himself. This, therefore, first of all teaches us what we ourselves should be, namely, such as are wholly devoted and consecrated to Him (1Co_6:20). We are the inheritance of God, therefore we should not suffer Satan to get possession of us, nor any evil to prevail upon us. Secondly, here is matter of comfort to the true Church and people of God, that being His inheritance He will therefore take care of them and protect them, and keep them from evil. I desire now, further, to enforce it as a duty which is belonging to you to take care of it especially; we should all in our several opportunities endeavour the continuance of the Church in succeeding time. That God may have to Himself a portion and people of inheritance, even when we are in our graves. This is done, first of all, by being good in our own generation. Secondly, by taking care of others, and educating them in His fear. Now, further, we may look upon it also as a consequent, and so see the connection of these two both together. How did God, bringing His people forth out of Egypt, make them to be to Him a people of inheritance, namely, thus far, as they had now larger opportunities for the serving of Him afforded unto them than while they were in Egypt, they were there restrained in regard of the idolatrous people, which they were mingled withal, but now being escaped they were more at liberty. This, therefore, is the advantage which we should still make of such opportunities (Luk_1:74-75). And so much of the first particular observable in this second general, namely, the design itself to be, etc. The second is the amplification of it. As ye are this day. In which clause we have three things especially hinted to us concerning God. First, the accomplishment of His purposes. Secondly, the certainty of His promises. Thirdly, the continuance of His performances. Now, from hence will follow another point as our duty, which is here also to be observed, and that is, that we are accordingly to call them to our minds, and so from thence make them fresh unto us, as if done at this present time. It is that which Moses endeavours to make these Israelites do here in the text, who reminds them of a mercy which was done many years ago for them, as if it had been done for them just at that time. This is the scope of this narration, and this also hath been the practice of the saints of God in other places (Psa_78:1; Psa_78:6). (T. Herren, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — 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 vv15, 19, 21, 23 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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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, 19, 20 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.