Exodus 20:4

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ¹  or any likeness ²  of anything ³  that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. ⁴ 

Leviticus 26:1

Exhortation to Obedience

26:1 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols, ⁵  so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before ⁶  it, for I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 17:2-7

17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ⁷  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ⁸  and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, ⁹  moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. ¹⁰  17:4 When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing ¹¹  is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates ¹²  that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. ¹³  17:6 At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 17:7 The witnesses ¹⁴  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ¹⁵  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 27:15

27:15 ‘Cursed is the one ¹⁶  who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent ¹⁷  to the Lord, the work of the craftsman ¹⁸  – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁹ 

Deuteronomy 31:16

31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, ²⁰  and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they ²¹  are going. They ²²  will reject ²³  me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ²⁴ 

Deuteronomy 31:29

31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally ²⁵  corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly ²⁶  before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” ²⁷ 

Joshua 19:40-48

Dan’s Tribal Lands

19:40 The seventh lot belonged to the tribe of Dan ²⁸  by its clans. 19:41 Their assigned land included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, 19:42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, 19:43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 19:44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 19:45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, 19:46 the waters of Jarkon, and Rakkon, including the territory in front of Joppa. 19:47 (The Danites failed to conquer their territory, ²⁹  so they went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. They put the sword to it, took possession of it, and lived in it. They renamed it ³⁰  Dan after their ancestor. ³¹ ) 19:48 This was the land assigned to the tribe of Dan ³²  by its clans, including these cities and their towns.

Psalms 78:58-61

78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, ³³ 

and made him jealous with their idols.

78:59 God heard and was angry;

he completely rejected Israel.

78:60 He abandoned ³⁴  the sanctuary at Shiloh,

the tent where he lived among men.

78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; ³⁵ 

he gave the symbol of his splendor ³⁶  into the hand of the enemy. ³⁷ 

[20:4]  ¹ tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.

[20:4]  ² tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).

[20:4]  ³ tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[26:1]  ⁵ sn For the literature regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִם, ’elilim), see the literature cited in the note on Lev 19:4. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (’el, “god, God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless, weak, powerless, nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”

[26:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “on.” The “sculpted stone” appears to be some sort of stone with images carved into (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 181, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 449).

[17:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”

[17:3]  ⁹ tc The MT reads “and to the sun,” thus including the sun, the moon, and other heavenly spheres among the gods. However, Theodotion and Lucian read “or to the sun,” suggesting perhaps that the sun and the other heavenly bodies are not in the category of actual deities.

[17:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[17:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.

[17:5]  ¹² tn Heb “gates.”

[17:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”

[17:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[17:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”

[27:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.

[27:15]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

[27:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “craftsman’s hands.”

[27:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.

[31:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”

[31:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.

[31:16]  ²² tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:16]  ²³ tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).

[31:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:29]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”

[31:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “do the evil.”

[31:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the work of your hands.”

[19:40]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the seventh lot came out for the sons of Dan.”

[19:47]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the territory of the sons of Dan went out from them.”

[19:47]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Leshem.” The pronoun (“it”) has replaced the name “Leshem” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:47]  ³¹ tn Heb “according to the name of their father.”

[19:48]  ³² tn Heb “this was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Dan.”

[78:58]  ³³ tn Traditionally, “high places.”

[78:60]  ³⁴ tn Or “rejected.”

[78:61]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.

[78:61]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.

[78:61]  ³⁷ sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).