You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Parallel translations
- KJV Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
- BSB You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- NKJV You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
- NASB You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- NLT “Make no treaties with them or their gods.
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 make no covenant with the Canaanite nations or their gods. Spiritual fidelity forbids any binding alliance with idolatry.
Overview
Covenants in the ancient world carried religious obligations, so a treaty with these nations would entangle Israel with their gods. God therefore forbids such alliances to keep His people from compromise. This guards the exclusive bond between Israel and the LORD. The principle that God's people must not be unequally yoked with idolatry continues into the New Testament call to undivided devotion to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 7:2and when Yahweh your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;
- Exod 34:12Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare in the middle of you:
- Exod 34:15“Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;
- Ps 106:35but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.
- Deut 7:16You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you.
- 2 Cor 6:15What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever?
- Num 25:1–2Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;
- Josh 9:14–23The men sampled their provisions, and didn’t ask counsel from Yahweh’s mouth.
- 2 Sam 21:1–2There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of Yahweh. Yahweh said, “It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 23:32 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.