Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,
Parallel translations
- WEB neither shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.
- KJV Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
- NKJV Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
- NASB Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them: you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons.
- NLT You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters,
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 must not intermarry with the Canaanite nations. The prohibition guards against being led astray spiritually.
Overview
The ban on intermarriage is not racial but religious, as the next verse explains: the danger is being turned to false gods. Marriage to idolaters threatened the covenant faithfulness of God's people. The New Testament likewise warns believers against being unequally yoked with unbelievers, for the sake of undivided devotion to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Kgs 11:2These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.
- Josh 23:12–13For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them,
- Exod 34:15–16Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
- Judg 3:6–7And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
- 2 Cor 6:14–17Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Neh 13:23–27In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
- Ezra 9:1–2After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
- Gen 6:2–3the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.
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 7:3 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.