to tear down · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
altars
מִזְבְּחֹתָם֙miz.be.cho.Tam
H4196
an altar · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
break
תְּשַׁבֵּר֑וּןte.sha.be.Run
H7665
to burst (literally or figuratively) · verb, piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
images
מַצֵּבֹתָ֖םma.tze.vo.Tam
H4676
something stationed · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
down
תִּכְרֹתֽוּןtikh.ro.Tun
H3772
to cut (off · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
groves
אֲשֵׁרָ֖יו'a.she.Rav
H842
Asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddess · noun, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
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
2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for u…
Exodus 23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down…
Deuteronomy 7:5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their grav…
Deuteronomy 7:25-26 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, le…
Deuteronomy 12:2-3 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the…
Deuteronomy 16:21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Judges 2:2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have y…
Judges 6:25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 34:10-17
Reconciliation being made, a covenant of friendship is here settled between God and Israel. The traitors are not only pardoned, but preferred and made favourites again. Well may the assurances of this be ushered in with a behold, a word commanding attention and admiration: Behold, I make a covenant. When the covenant was broken, it was Israel that broke it; now that it comes to be renewed, it is God that makes it. If there be quarrels, we must bear all the blame; if there be peace, God must have all the glory. Here is,
I. God's part of this covenant, what he would do for them, Exo 34:10, Exo 34:11. 1. In general: Before all thy people, I will do marvels. Note, Covenant-blessings are marvello…
he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us--On this proclamation, he, in the overflowing benevolence of s heart, founded an earnest petition for the Divine Presence being continued with the people; and God was pleased to give His favorable answer to Moses' intercession by a renewal of His promise under the form of a covenant, repeating the leading points that formed the conditions of the former national compact.
Adam Clarke on Exodus 34:13
Ye shall destroy their images - See the subjects of this and all the following verses, to Exo 34:28, treated at large in the notes on Exodus 23 (note).
John Gill on Exodus 34:13
But ye shall destroy their altars,.... On which they had sacrificed to their idols; since, if they were allowed to continue, they might be temptations to offer sacrifice thereon, contrary to the command of God:
break their images: of gold or silver, wood or stone, which they made for themselves, and worshipped as deities; seeing if these continued, the sight of them might lead to the worship of them, and so bring under the divine displeasure, as a breach of the command of God given them:
and cut down their groves; which were clusters of trees, where they had their temples and their idols, and did service to them, and where, besides idolatry, many impurities were committed. Such places were…
The Church Fathers
When God sends Moses, once he grants him possession of the land, destroys all idolatry and the people does not worship any other God, he says: For the Lord is a God whose name is Jealous, he is a jealous God (Ex 34,14). This means that the very name by which the Lord God is designated is Jealous, because He is a jealous God. This quality, distinct from the vice of human disturbance, always and in all circumstances God is immutable and calm. But with that word it is indicated that God will not leave his people unpunished if he is not faithful to him, worshiping other gods. The word is taken in a metaphorical sense of marital zeal, by means of which the husband keeps the chastity of the wife, which is useful to us, but not to God. Because who could harm God with that kind of fornication? On the other hand, it causes great harm to oneself, because it leads to perdition. God forbids this infidelity with a very serious terror, calling himself Jealous. Of him it is said in the psalm: You have caused all who are unfaithful to perish; but for me it is a good to be united to God (Ps. 72,27.28). Finally, the text says: Lest you make an alliance with those who are established in the country and prostitute themselves by following their gods (Ex 34,15). 159 (Ex 34.20). What does it mean: You will not appear before me empty-handed? As the context indicates, appearing before God is appearing in his tabernacle. And you will not appear before him with empty hands means that you should never enter without some offering. This, taken in a spiritual sense, is a great mystery. For these things were said as shadows of future realities. 160 (Ex 34.21). Speaking of Saturday, what does it mean? What will you add: Will you rest from sowing and harvesting? It seems to mean: "in the time of sowing and harvesting." Or perhaps send observing the sabbatical rest so that they do not even have excuse those seasons that are very necessary for the farmers so they can eat and live? The Scripture, therefore, commands that even at the time of sowing and harvesting, when labor is urgently needed, sabbath rest is observed. And so, alluding to these times that demand a lot of work, it is indicated that at all times work should be suspended on Saturday. 161 (Ex 34.24). The Scripture says: No one will covet your land (and) when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times a year. This…
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
Asherah — And pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of “grove” and “groves” of the Authorized Version. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its…
Grove — (1.) Heb. ‘asherah, properly a wooden image, or a pillar representing Ashtoreth, a sensual Canaanitish goddess, probably usually set up in a grove (2 Kings 21:7; 23:4). In the Revised Version the…
High place — An eminence, natural or artificial, where worship by sacrifice or offerings was made (1 Kings 13:32; 2 Kings 17:29). The first altar after the Flood was built on a mountain (Gen. 8:20). Abraham also…
Samson — Of the sun, the son of Manoah, born at Zorah. The narrative of his life is given in Judg. 13-16. He was a “Nazarite unto God” from his birth, the first Nazarite mentioned in Scripture (Judg. 13:3-5;…
Exodus 34:13
13. But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
13. Aras eorum diruetis, statues eorum confringetis, lucosque eorum succidetis.
Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 34:11-16
To recall the duties of the covenant once more to the minds of the people, the Lord repeats from among the rights of Israel, upon the basis of which the covenant had been established (ch. 21-23), two of the leading points which determined the attitude of the nation towards Him, and which constituted, as it were, the main pillars that were to support the covenant about to be renewed. These were, first, the warning against every kind of league with the Canaanites, who were to be driven out before the Israelites (Exo 34:11-16); and, secondly, the instructions concerning the true worship of Jehovah (Exo 34:17-26). The warning against friendship with the idolatrous Canaanites (Exo 34:11-16) is mo…
Asherah was a Canaanite fertility goddess who would continue to be a temptation throughout Israel’s history (see, e.g., Judg 6:25; 1 Kgs 14:15; 2 Kgs 23:15). • The poles seem to have been fertility symbols.
Temptation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
