And whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.
Parallel translations
- WEB and that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
- KJV That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
- NKJV and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
- NASB and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.
- NLT They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death—whether young or old, man or woman.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The covenant included death for any who would not seek the God of Israel. The community treated covenant loyalty with utmost seriousness.
Overview
This severe stipulation reflects the gravity of apostasy under the old covenant law, where idolatry threatened the whole nation. (Faithful readers note this as a feature of Israel's theocracy, not a pattern for the church.) The seriousness of sin it underscores points to the cross, where God's justice against sin and His mercy meet in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Exod 22:20If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.
- Deut 29:18Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
- Ps 115:13He will bless those who fear the LORD—small and great alike.
- Deut 17:2–5If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant
- Acts 26:22But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
- 1 Kgs 18:40Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.
- Deut 13:5–15Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Rev 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
- Job 3:19Both small and great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
- Rev 6:15Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
- Exod 12:29Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.
- Job 34:19who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.
- Gen 19:11And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 15:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.