Deuteronomy 27 · Verse 15

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 it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.
Deuteronomy 27:15, King James Version

Deuteronomy 27:15 in other translations

BSB‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
WEB‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
ASVCursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination unto Jehovah, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and setteth it up in secret. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.
YLT‘Cursed is the man who maketh a graven and molten image, the abomination of Jehovah, work of the hands of an artificer, and hath put it in a secret place, --and all the people have answered and said, Amen.
DARBYCursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination to Jehovah, a work of the craftsman's hand, and putteth it up secretly! And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.
BBECursed is the man who makes any image of wood or stone or metal, disgusting to the Lord, the work of man's hands, and puts it up in secret. And let all the people say, So be it.
WebsterCursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the artificer, and putteth it in a secret place: and all the people shall answer, and say Amen.

What does Deuteronomy 27:15 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 15 Cursed be the man, etc. - Other laws, previously made, had prohibited all these things; and penal sanctions were necessarily understood; but here God more openly declares that he who breaks them is cursed - falls under the wrath and indignation of his Maker and Judge. See the note on Exo 20:4.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 27:11-26

The six tribes appointed for blessing, were all children of the free women, for to such the promise belongs, Ga 4:31. Levi is here among the rest. Ministers should apply to themselves the blessing and curse they preach to others, and by faith set their own Amen to it. And they must not only allure people to their duty with the promises of a blessing, but awe them with the threatenings of a curse, by declaring that a…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 27:11-26 →

Deuteronomy 27:15 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.

אָר֣וּר'a.Rur[is] cursedH779
הָאִ֡ישׁha.'Ishthe personH376
אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhoH834
יַעֲשֶׂה֩ya.'a.Sehhe will makeH6213
פֶ֨סֶלFe.selan imageH6459
וּמַסֵּכָ֜הu.ma.se.Khahand a molten imageH4541
תּוֹעֲבַ֣תto.'a.Vat<the> abomination ofH8441
יְהוָ֗הYah.wehYahwehH3068
מַעֲשֵׂ֛הma.'a.Seh[the] work ofH4639
יְדֵ֥יye.Dei[the] hands ofH3027
חָרָ֖שׁcha.Rasha craftsmanH2796
וְשָׂ֣םve.Samand he will set [it] upH7760
בַּסָּ֑תֶרba.Sa.terin <the> secrecyH5643
וְעָנ֧וּve.'a.Nuand they will answerH6030
כָל\־khol-allH3605
הָעָ֛םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
וְאָמְר֖וּve.'a.me.Ruand they will sayH559
אָמֵֽן\׃\ \ס'a.MenamenH543

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

Cross references for Deuteronomy 27:15

  • Exodus 34:17

    Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

  • Exodus 20:4

    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 that is in the water under the earth:

  • 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.

  • Deuteronomy 5:8

    Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:

  • Leviticus 19:4

    Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.

  • Deuteronomy 4:16-23

    Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 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. …

  • Exodus 20:23

    Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

  • Hosea 13:2-3

    And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

  • 1 Corinthians 14:16

    Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

  • Exodus 32:1-4

    And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

  • Genesis 31:34

    Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

  • 2 Chronicles 33:2

    But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Cursed be.
28:16-19; Ge 9:25; 1Sa 26:19; Jer 11:3
maketh.
4:16-23; 5:8; Ex 20:4,23; 32:1-4; 34:17; Le 19:4; 26:1
Isa 44:9,10,17; Ho 13:2,3
an abomination.
29:17; 1Ki 11:5-7; 2Ki 23:13; 2Ch 33:2; Isa 44:19; Eze 7:20
Da 11:31; Mt 24:15; Re 17:4,5
and putteth.
Ge 31:19,34; 2Ki 17:19; Ps 44:20,21; Jer 23:24; Eze 8:7-12; 14:4
And all.
Nu 5:22; Jer 11:5; 28:6; Mt 6:13; 1Co 14:16
Amen.To each of the curses the people were to say Amen, as well as to the blessings; to denote a profession of their faith in the truth of them, that they were the real declarations of the wrath of God; and an acknowledgement of the equity of these curses. It was such an imprecation upon themselves, as strongly obliged them to have nothing to do with those evil practices on which the curse is entailed. We read of those who entered a curse to walk in God's law. Ne 10:29. All the people, by saying this Amen, became bound one for another, that they would observe God's laws, by which every man was obliged, as far as he could, to prevent his neighbour from breaking these laws, and to reprove those that had offended, lest they should bear sin and the curse for them.

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

Context

  • Deuteronomy 27:14

    And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice,

  • 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 it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

  • Deuteronomy 27:16

    Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Read all of Deuteronomy 27

Deuteronomy 27:15 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Maldito el hombre que hiciere escultura ó imagen de fundición, abominación á Jehová, obra de mano de artífice, y la pusiere en oculto. Y todo el pueblo responderá y dirá: Amén.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Maudit l’homme qui fait une image taillée, ou une image de fonte (une abomination de l’ Éternel, œuvre des mains d’un artisan), et qui la place dans un lieu secret! Et tout le peuple répondra, et dira: Amen!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Verflucht sei der Mann, der ein geschnitztes oder gegossenes Bild macht, einen Greuel vor Jehova, ein Machwerk von Künstlerhand und es im Geheimen aufstellt! und das ganze Volk antworte und sage: Amen!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Maledictus homo qui facit sculptile et conflatile, abominationem Domini, opus manuum artificum, ponetque illud in abscondito: et respondebit omnis populus, et dicet: Amen.