and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.
Parallel translations
- WEB Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which Yahweh your God hates.
- KJV Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.
- NKJV You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.
- NASB And you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the Lord your God hates.
- NLT And never set up sacred pillars for worship, for the Lord your God hates them.
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
Israel was not to set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord hates. God rejects worship borrowed from pagan practice.
Overview
Sacred stone pillars were features of Canaanite cult worship, and God declares his hatred of them as instruments of false devotion. Israel's worship was to be wholly distinct from the surrounding nations. This insistence on pure, God-defined worship underscores that the Lord alone determines how he is to be approached, a truth fulfilled in coming to God through Christ alone.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Lev 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.
- Exod 20:4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Deut 12:31You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
- Jer 44:4Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’
- Zech 8:17do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely, for I hate all these things,” declares the LORD.
- Rev 2:6But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
- Rev 2:15In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 16:22 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.