(for the men of the land that were before you had done all these abominations, and the land became defiled);
Parallel translations
- KJV (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
- BSB For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled.
- NKJV (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled),
- NASB (for the people of the land who were there before you did all these abominations, and the land has become defiled),
- NLT “All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled.
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
The previous inhabitants committed all these abominations and defiled the land.
Overview
This parenthetical explanation reinforces why Israel must avoid such sins: they were precisely what brought judgment on the Canaanites. It establishes a clear historical and moral cause for the conquest. The verse underscores that God's patience with sin has limits and that persistent wickedness invites judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ezek 22:11One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. Another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.
- Deut 25:16For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God.
- Deut 20:18that they not teach you to follow all their abominations, which they have done to their gods; so would you sin against Yahweh your God.
- Deut 23:18You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute, into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God.
- Deut 27:15‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
- 2 Kgs 16:3But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yes, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel.
- 2 Kgs 21:2He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel.
- 1 Kgs 14:24There were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh drove out before the children of Israel.
- 2 Chr 36:14Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted Yahweh’s house which he had made holy in Jerusalem.
- Lev 18:24“‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled.
- Ezek 16:50They were haughty, and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away when I saw it.
- Hos 9:10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which they loved.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 18:27 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.