Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.
Parallel translations
- WEB Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which Yahweh your God hates.
- BSB and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.
- 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 26:1Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
- Exod 20:4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
- Deut 12:31Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
- Jer 44:4Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
- Zech 8:17And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
- Rev 2:6But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
- Rev 2:15So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.