Deuteronomy 12 · Verse 3

Deuteronomy 12:3

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
Deuteronomy 12:3, King James Version

Deuteronomy 12:3 in other translations

BSBTear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.
WEBYou shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, and burn their Asherah poles with fire. You shall cut down the engraved images of their gods. You shall destroy their name out of that place.
ASVand ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.
YLTand ye have broken down their altars, and shivered their standing pillars, and their shrines ye burn with fire, and graven images of their gods ye cut down, and have destroyed their name out of that place.
DARBYand ye shall break down their altars, and shatter their statues, and burn their Asherahs with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of theirgods, and ye shall destroy the names of them out of that place.
BBETheir altars and their pillars are to be broken down, and their holy trees burned with fire, and the images of their gods cut down; you are to take away their names out of that place.
WebsterAnd ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

What does Deuteronomy 12:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. And ye shall overthrow their altars--piles of turf or small stones. and break their pillars--Before the art of sculpture was known, the statues of idols were only rude blocks of colored stones.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 Ye shall overthrow their altars - Where unholy sacrifices have been offered; and break their pillars, probably meaning statues and representations of their gods cut out of stone; and burn their groves, such as those about the temple of Ashtaroth, the Canaanitish Venus, whose impure rites were practiced in different parts of the enclosures or groves round her temples; and ye shall hew down the graven images, probably implying all images carved out of wood; and destroy the names of them, which were no doubt at first graven on the stones, and carved on the trees, and then applied to the surrounding districts. In various instances the names of whole mountains, valleys, and districts were borrowed from the gods worshipped there.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:1-4

Moses comes to the statutes he had to give in charge to Israel; and begins with such as relate to the worship of God. The Israelites are charged not to bring the rites and usages of idolaters into the worship of God; not under colour of making it better. We cannot serve God and mammon; nor worship the true God and idols; nor depend upon Christ Jesus and upon superstitious or self-righteous confidences.

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 12:1-4 →

Deuteronomy 12:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְנִתַּצְתֶּ֣םve.ni.tatz.Temand you will break downH5422
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
מִזְבּחֹתָ֗םmiz.b.cho.Tamaltars theirH4196
וְשִׁבַּרְתֶּם֙ve.shi.bar.Temand you will shatterH7665
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
מַצֵּ֣בֹתָ֔םma.Tze.vo.Tamsacred pillars theirH4676
וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙va.'a.she.rei.Hemand Asherah poles theirH842
תִּשְׂרְפ֣וּןtis.re.Funyou will burn !H8313
בָּאֵ֔שׁba.'Eshwith <the> fireH784
וּפְסִילֵ֥יu.fe.si.Leiand [the] images ofH6456
אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֖ם'e.lo.hei.Hemgods theirH430
תְּגַדֵּע֑וּןte.ga.de.'Unyou will cut down !H1438
וְאִבַּדְתֶּ֣םve.'i.bad.Temand you will destroyH6
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
שְׁמָ֔םshe.Mamname theirH8034
מִן\־min-fromH4480
הַמָּק֖וֹםha.ma.Komthe placeH4725
הַהֽוּא\׃ha.Hu'<the> thatH1931

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 12:3

  • 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 ye done this?

  • 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, and quite pluck down all their high places:

  • Zechariah 13:2

    And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

  • Psalms 16:4

    Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

  • Exodus 23:13

    And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

  • 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 graven images with fire.

  • 2 Chronicles 19:3

    Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

  • Hosea 2:17

    For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

  • Revelation 13:1

    And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

  • 2 Chronicles 34:3

    For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

  • Jeremiah 17:2

    Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

  • 2 Chronicles 31:1

    Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
ye shall.
Nu 33:52; Jud 2:2; 2Ch 31:1
overthrow. Heb. break down. and burn.
1Ki 15:13; 2Ki 18:4; 23:14; 2Ch 14:3; 19:3; 34:3; Jer 17:2; Mic 5:14
and destroy.
Ex 23:13; Ps 16:4; Ho 2:17; Zec 13:2; Re 13:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 12:2

    Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

  • Deuteronomy 12:3

    And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

  • Deuteronomy 12:4

    Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.

Read all of Deuteronomy 12

Deuteronomy 12:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y derribaréis sus altares, y quebraréis sus imágenes, y sus bosques consumiréis con fuego: y destruiréis las esculturas de sus dioses, y extirparéis el nombre de ellas de aquel lugar.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
et vous démolirez leurs autels, et vous briserez leurs statues; et vous brûlerez au feu leurs ashères, et vous abattrez les images taillées de leurs dieux, et vous ferez périr leur nom de ce lieu-là.
German
Elberfelder 1871
und ihr sollt ihre Altäre niederreißen und ihre Bildsäulen zerbrechen und ihre Ascherim mit Feuer verbrennen und die geschnitzten Bilder ihrer Götter umhauen; und ihr sollt ihre Namen aus selbigem Orte vertilgen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Dissipate aras eorum, et confringite statuas: lucos igne comburite, et idola comminuite: disperdite nomina eorum de locis illis.