Leviticus 26:1

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
make	תַעֲשׂ֨וּ ta.'a.Su	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
idols	אֱלִילִ֗ם 'e.li.Lim	H457	good for nothing · noun, common masculine plural absolute
image	וּפֶ֤סֶל u.Fe.sel	H6459	an idol · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up	תָקִ֣ימוּ ta.Ki.mu	H6965	to rise (in various applications · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
image	וּמַצֵּבָה֙ u.ma.tze.Vah	H4676	something stationed · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
up	תִתְּנוּ֙ ti.te.Nu	H5414	to give · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
image	מַשְׂכִּ֗ית mas.Kit	H4906	a figure (carved on stone · noun, common feminine singular absolute
stone	וְאֶ֣בֶן ve.'E.ven	H68	a stone · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
land	בְּאַרְצְכֶ֔ם be.'ar.tze.Khem	H776	the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
down	לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֖ת le.hish.ta.cha.Vot	H7812	to depress · preposition + verb, infinitive construct
LORD	יְהוָ֖ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God	אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם 'e.lo.hei.Khem	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural

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

Leviticus 19:4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.
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…
Numbers 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images…
Deuteronomy 27:15 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth…
Exodus 20:4-5 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or th…
1 Corinthians 10:19-20 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
Revelation 13:14-15 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them…
Exodus 20:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 26:1-13

Here is, I. The inculcating of those precepts of the law which were of the greatest consequence, and by which were of the greatest consequence, and by which especially their obedience would be tried, Lev 26:1, Lev 26:2. They are the abstract of the second and fourth commandments, which, as they are by much the largest in the decalogue, so they are most frequently insisted on in other parts of the law. As, when a master has given many things in charge to his servant, he concludes with the repetition of those things which were of the greatest importance, and which the servant was most in danger of neglecting, bidding him, whatever he did, be sure to remember those, so here God by Moses, after…

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Adam Clarke on Leviticus 26:1

Ye shall make you no idols - See note on Exo 20:4, and see the note on Gen 28:18-19 (note), concerning consecrated stones. Not only idolatry in general is forbidden here, but also the superstitious use of innocent and lawful things. Probably the stones or pillars which were first set up, and anointed by holy men in commemoration of signal interposition of God in their behalf, were afterward abused to idolatrous and superstitious purposes, and therefore prohibited. This we know was the case with the brazen serpent, Kg2 18:4.

John Gill on Leviticus 26:1

Ye shall have no idols, or graven image,.... Some of the Jewish writers, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, think this law against idolatry is mentioned on account of the Israelite sold to a stranger, spoken of in the latter part of the preceding chapter, lest he should be drawn into idolatry; See Gill on Leviticus 25:48; but this is rather mentioned as being a principal law, respecting the honour and glory of God, and the foundation of all religion and godliness, and the breach of it a capital crime, and which led on to other sins, and exposed to the displeasure and resentment of God, and brought on all the calamities after mentioned in this chapter. "Idols" here signify "things of nought", as an ido…

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The Church Fathers

For this reason, in order to root out the materials of idolatry, God's law proclaims, "You shall not make an idol"; and by adding, "Nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven or in the earth or in the sea," it utterly forbade such crafts to the servants of God. Enoch had anticipated this law when he prophesied that the demons and the spirits of the rebellious angels would turn to idolatry every element and property of the universe, everything which heaven and sea and earth contain, to be consecrated as a god against God. So it is that human error worships everything but the very Creator of everything. Their images are idols; the consecration of images is idolatry. Whatever sin idolatry commits must be put down to all the makers of all the idols.
— Tertullian, ON IDOLATRY 4.1-2

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

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…
Priest — The Heb. kohen, Gr. hierus, Lat. sacerdos, always denote one who offers sacrifices. At first every man was his own priest, and presented his own sacrifices before God. Afterwards that office devolved…
Idol · .Wood and stone — .Wood and stone
Picture · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Pillars · Of memorial: In honour of idols — Of memorial: In honour of idols

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).

Leviticus 26:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 26:1-13

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 26:1

John Gill on Leviticus 26:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Leviticus 26:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 26:1-13

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 26:1

John Gill on Leviticus 26:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Leviticus 26:1

Keil & Delitzsch on Leviticus 26:1-2

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Leviticus 26:1

Rashi on Leviticus 26:1