Deuteronomy 7:5

Translations

Modern

Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.

Traditional

But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

Literal

But rather thus you shall deal with them: Their altars you shall break down, and their pillars you shall smash, and their Asherah poles you shall cut down, and their carved images you shall burn with the fire.

Latin

Quin potius hæc facietis eis: aras eorum subvertite, et confringite statuas, lucosque succidite, et sculptilia comburite:

Original

Hebrew

English

Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.

Notes

Deuteronomy 7:5

Engraved stone pillars called stelae usually represented pagan male gods. People commonly found these sacred pillars at shrines dedicated to Baal.
Asherah poles, usually made of wood, represented Canaanite fertility goddesses, especially Asherah, the mother of the gods. These shrines might have developed as stylized sacred trees associated with fertility (see study note on 12:2).

Deuteronomy 7:1–26

Before Israel could occupy the promised land, they had to remove the people already living there (compare Genesis 13:14–17; 15:18–21). The land belonged to the Lord, and only God could decide who should live there.

Theme notes and profiles

Ancient Law Codes Children and Parents Complete Dedication Complete Destruction Ethnic Hatred Holy War Intermarriage and Divorce

Related verses

Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
Exodus 34:13
Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
Deuteronomy 12:2–3
Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
Deuteronomy 16:22
…and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.
Leviticus 26:1
“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 9:21
And I took that sinful thing, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust, and I cast it into the stream that came down from the mountain.
Deuteronomy 7:25
You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.
Judges 6:25–26
On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
2 Kings 23:6–14
He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
Exodus 32:20
Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.

People

Asherah: Canaanite goddess; associated with wooden poles, idolatry

Glossary

Ahab (King) Archaeology and the Bible Biblical Concept of Law Canaan, Canaanite Conquest and Allotment of the Land Curse, Cursed Deuteronomy, Book of Elephantine Papyri Holy War Holy War Joshua, Book of Judges, Book of Mixed Marriage

Topics

Altars for Idolatrous Worship, to be Destroyed Carving: Idols Manufactured By Groves of Canaanites, to be Destroyed Iconoclasm: Idols to be Destroyed Idolatry: Everything Connected With, should be Destroyed Pillars of Memorial in Honor of Idols The Canaanites: Israel Commanded: To Destroy all Vestiges of Their Idolatry

Deuteronomy 7:5

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