They offered sacrifices to demons, which are not God, to gods they had not known before, to new gods only recently arrived, to gods their ancestors had never feared.
Parallel translations
- WEB They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread.
- KJV They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
- BSB They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.
- NKJV They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear.
- NASB “They sacrificed to demons, who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not know.
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
They sacrificed to demons rather than God, to new gods their fathers had not known. It matters because it unmasks idolatry as worship offered to demonic powers.
Overview
Behind the idols Israel served lay demonic reality, a truth Paul affirms in 1 Corinthians 10:20. Chasing after 'new gods' meant abandoning the God who had proven faithful for unknown and dangerous powers. This exposes the spiritual seriousness of idolatry and highlights the deliverance from dark powers accomplished through Christ's victory on the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Deut 28:64Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.
- Judg 5:8They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
- Lev 17:7They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’
- Deut 32:21They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
- Isa 44:8Don’t fear, neither be afraid. Haven’t I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don’t know any other Rock.”
- Ps 106:37–38Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
- 1 Tim 4:1But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
- 1 Cor 10:19–20What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
- 1 Cor 8:4Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
- Jer 10:15They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they will perish.
- Rev 9:20The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can’t see, hear, or walk.
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 32:17 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.