“If you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words:
Parallel translations
- WEB “If now you have understanding, hear this. Listen to the voice of my words.
- KJV If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words.
- BSB If you have understanding, hear this; listen to my words.
- NASB ¶“But if you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words.
- NLT “Now listen to me if you are wise. Pay attention to what I say.
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
Intermarriage with idolaters would lead Israel's sons into the same spiritual prostitution. The concern is protecting covenant faithfulness, not ethnicity.
Overview
God forbids these marriages because they would draw Israel into idol worship, as the daughters and then the sons turn to false gods. The prohibition is fundamentally religious, guarding wholehearted devotion to the Lord. The New Testament applies the same principle, urging believers not to be unequally yoked with unbelief (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Job 12:3But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn’t know such things as these?
- Job 13:2–6What you know, I know also. I am not inferior to you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 34:16 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.