Deuteronomy 4:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Deuteronomy 4:19
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
to lift · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
eyes
עֵינֶ֜יךָ'ei.Nei.kha
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
heaven
הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָהha.sha.May.mah
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute + directional suffix
seest
וְֽ֠רָאִיתָVe.ra.'i.ta
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
sun
הַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁha.She.mesh
H8121
the sun · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
moon
הַיָּרֵ֜חַhai.ya.Re.ach
H3394
the moon · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Deuteronomy 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
2 Kings 21:3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ah…
Genesis 1:16-18 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 Kings 17:16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all…
Joshua 10:12-13 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of…
Nehemiah 9:6 Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are there…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 4:1-40
This most lively and excellent discourse is so entire, and the particulars of it are so often repeated, that we must take it altogether in the exposition of it, and endeavour to digest it into proper heads, for we cannot divide it into paragraphs.
I. In general, it is the use and application of the foregoing history; it comes in by way of inference from it: Now therefore harken, O Israel, Deu 4:1. This use we should make of the review of God's providences concerning us, we should by them be quickened and engaged to duty and obedience. The histories of the years of ancient times should in like manner be improved by us.
II. The scope and drift of his discourse is to persuade them to keep close…
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image--The things are here specified of which God prohibited any image or representation to be made for the purposes of worship; and, from the variety of details entered into, an idea may be formed of the extensive prevalence of idolatry in that age. In whatever way idolatry originated, whether from an intention to worship the true God through those things which seemed to afford the strongest evidences of His power, or whether a divine principle was supposed to reside in the things themselves, there was scarcely an element or object of nature but was deified. This was particularly the case with the Canaanites and Egyptians, against whose supe…
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven,.... The starry heaven, which to do in itself is not sinful; and may be lawfully and commendably done, to raise admiration at the wonderful works of God in them, and lead to adore the author of them: but if not guarded against may be ensnaring:
and when thou seest the sun and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven; those bright luminaries, so glorious to behold, and so useful and beneficial to the earth, and the inhabitants of it:
shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them; should have an impulse on their minds and their hearts, be inclined and drawn to the worship of them, partly by considering their splendour, glory, and…
The Church Fathers
It is clear then that since those who live according to the law reverence the One who made the heaven, they do not reverence the heaven as if God. Furthermore, none of those who serve the Mosaic law worship the angels in heaven. And in the same way that they do not worship the sun, moon, and stars and "the world of heaven." They avoid worshiping heaven as such or the angels in it.
It is quite likely that the enemy will want to induce us by every possible trick down to "the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven." But we shall reply that the Word of God did not command us to do so. For in no way may we bow down to the creature in the presence of the Creator who sustains all and anticipates their prayer. Not even the sun would wish that any friend of God or anyone else, it would seem, should bow down to it. It imitates him who says, "Why do you call me good? None is good but one, that is God" the Father.
Lest that, looking to the heavens and seeing the sun and the moon and the stars and all the adornment of heaven, you err, worshiping and worshiping those things that the Lord your God distributed to all the people under heaven. The text does not say that God has commanded that these things be venerated by Gentiles, and that only his people should not worship them. The text says that God has foreseen that the Gentiles would worship these things from heaven and, despite foreseeing, created them, and also thought that their people would not worship them, or that the word distributed is said in the sense in which it is affirmed in Genesis that the stars will remain as signs for the times and for the days and for the years, (Gn 1,14) an idea that the people of God have in common with all the people, but not the cult that other peoples have given them (Cf Hb 11,25).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Astrologer — (Dan. 1:20; 2:2, 10, 27, etc.) Heb. ‘ashshaph’, an enchanter, one who professes to divine future events by the appearance of the stars. This science flourished among the Chaldeans. It was positively…
Bezer — Ore of gold or silver. (1.) A city of the Reubenites; one of the three cities of refuge on the east of Jordan (Deut. 4: 43; Josh. 20:8). It has been identified with the modern ruined village of…
Host of heaven — The sun, moon, and stars are so designated (Gen. 2:1). When the Jews fell into idolatry they worshipped these (Deut. 4:19; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:5; Jer. 19:13; Zeph. 1:5; Acts 7:42).
Idol — (1.) Heb. aven, “nothingness;” “vanity” (Isa. 66:3; 41:29; Deut. 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13; Ps. 31:6; Jer. 8:19, etc.). (2.) ‘Elil, “a thing of naught” (Ps. 97:7; Isa. 19:3); a word of contempt, used of…
Moon — Heb. yareah, from its paleness (Ezra 6:15), and lebanah, the “white” (Cant. 6:10; Isa. 24:23), was appointed by the Creator to be with the sun “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years”…
Phylacteries — (Gr. phulakteria; i.e., “defences” or “protections”), called by modern Jews tephillin (i.e., “prayers”) are mentioned only in Matt. 23:5. They consisted of strips of parchment on which were inscribed…
Stars — The eleven stars (Gen. 37:9); the seven (Amos 5:8); wandering (Jude 1:13); seen in the east at the birth of Christ, probably some luminous meteors miraculously formed for this specific purpose (Matt.…
Sun — (Heb. shemesh), first mentioned along with the moon as the two great luminaries of heaven (Gen. 1:14-18). By their motions and influence they were intended to mark and divide times and seasons. The…
Idolatry · Consists in: Worshipping the host of heaven — Consists in: Worshipping the host of heaven
Moon · Worship of, forbid — Worship of, forbid
stars
הַכּֽוֹכָבִ֗יםha.ko.kha.Vim
H3556
a star (as round or as shining) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
host
צְבָ֣אtze.Va'
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common masculine singular construct
heaven
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
driven
וְנִדַּחְתָּ֛ve.ni.dach.Ta
H5080
to push off · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
worship
וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִ֥יתָve.hish.ta.cha.Vi.ta
H7812
to depress · conjunction + verb, sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
serve
וַעֲבַדְתָּ֑םva.'a.vad.Tam
H5647
to work (in any sense) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
LORD
יְהוָ֤הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙'e.lo.Hei.kha
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
divided
חָלַ֜קcha.Lak
H2505
to be smooth (figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
nations
הָֽעַמִּ֔יםha.'a.Mim
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
heaven
הַשָּׁמָֽיִםha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Deuteronomy 4:12-19, 23, 24
12. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
12. Tunc loquutus est Jehova ad vos e medio ignis: vocem verborum audistis, at formam non vidistis praeter vocem.
13. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
13. Et exposuit vobis pactum suum quod praecepit vobis ut faceretis: nempe decem verba, quae scrip-sit super duas tabulas lapideas.
14. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over t…
They were not to allow themselves to be torn away (נדּח) to worship the stars of heaven, namely, by the seductive influence exerted upon the senses by the sight of the heavenly bodies as they shone in their glorious splendour. The reason for this prohibition is given in the relative clause, "which Jehovah thy God hath allotted to all nations under the whole heaven." The thought is not, "God has given the heathen the sun, moon, and stars for service, i.e., to serve them with their light," as Onkelos, the Rabbins, Jerome, and others, suppose, but He has allotted them to them for worship, i.e., permitted them to choose them as the objects of their worship, which is the view adopted by Justin Ma…
forces of heaven: This phrase refers to the stars and other heavenly bodies, which, like earthly creations, were thought to embody or represent deities. Instead, they are servants of God, named by him to carry out their duties of marking the times and seasons (Gen 1:14-19; Isa 40:26). • The Lord your God gave them: Rather than worshiping these heavenly bodies, the people of Israel were to recognize that God’s creation was made, among other reasons, to serve humankind (Gen 1:28).
Rashi on Deuteronomy 4:19
ופן תשא עיניך AND LEST THOU LIFT UP THINE EYES to ponder on the matter, and to set your heart to go astray after them.
אשר חלק ה׳ WHICH THE LORD ASSIGNED to give light to them (to all peoples) (Megillah 9b). — Another explanation: which God assigned to them as deities; He did not prevent them from going astray after them, but He allowed them to err (to slip) through vain speculations, in order to drive them out from the world. Similarly it states, (Psalms 36:3) "He (God) made him err (slip) through his eyes (i.e. through what his eyes behold) until his iniquity be found and he be hated” (Avodah Zarah 55a).
Moon, The · Appointed: For the benefit of all — Appointed: For the benefit of all
Obedience · ENJOINED — ENJOINED
Stars · Worship of, forbid — Worship of, forbid
Stars, The · The Israelites forbidden to worship — The Israelites forbidden to worship
Sun · Worship of, forbid — Worship of, forbid
Sun, The · The Jews: Forbidden to worship — The Jews: Forbidden to worship
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
