Psalms 106 · Verse 20

Psalms 106:20

Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
Psalms 106:20, King James Version

Psalms 106:20 in other translations

BSBThey exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.
WEBThus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.
ASVThus they changed their glory For the likeness of an ox that eateth grass.
YLTAnd change their Honour Into the form of an ox eating herbs.
DARBYAnd they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
BBEAnd their glory was changed into the image of an ox, whose food is grass.
WebsterThus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

What does Psalms 106:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 106:19-23

19-23. From indirect setting God at naught, they pass to direct. made--though prohibited in Ex 20:4, 5 to make a likeness, even of the true God. calf--called so in contempt. They would have made an ox or bull, but their idol turned out but a calf; an imitation of the divine symbols, the cherubim; or of the sacred bull of Egyptian idolatry. The idolatry was more sinful in view of their recent experience of God's…

Read the full comment on Psalms 106:19-23 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 Thus they changed their glory - That is, their God, who was their glory; and they worshipped an ox in his stead. See the use St Paul makes of this, Rom 1:23 (note); see also the note there. The incorruptible God was thus served by all the heathen world.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 106:13-33

Those that will not wait for God's counsel, shall justly be given up to their own hearts' lusts, to walk in their own counsels. An undue desire, even for lawful things, becomes sinful. God showed his displeasure for this. He filled them with uneasiness of mind, terror of conscience, and self-reproach. Many that fare deliciously every day, and whose bodies are healthful, have leanness in their souls: no love to God…

Read the full comment on Psalms 106:13-33 →

Psalms 106:20 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.

וַיָּמִ֥ירוּvai.ya.Mi.ruand they exchangedH4171
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
כְּבוֹדָ֑םke.vo.Damglory theirH3519
בְּתַבְנִ֥יתbe.tav.Nitfor an image ofH8403
שׁ֝֗וֹרShoran oxH7794
אֹכֵ֥ל'o.Khel[which] eatsH398
עֵֽשֶׂב\׃'E.sevvegetationH6212

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

Cross references for Psalms 106:20

  • Jeremiah 2:11

    Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

  • Romans 1:22-23

    Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

  • 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 that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

  • Psalms 89:17

    For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

  • Isaiah 40:18-25

    To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? …

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Thus.
89:17; Jer 2:11; Ro 1:22,23
their glory.That is, their God, who ought to have been the peculiar object of their glory.
into.
Ex 20:4,5; Isa 40:18-25

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

Context

  • Psalms 106:19

    They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

  • Psalms 106:20

    Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

  • Psalms 106:21

    They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

Read all of Psalms 106

Psalms 106:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Así trocaron su gloria por la imagen de un buey que come hierba.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et ils changèrent leur gloire en la figure d’un bœuf qui mange l’herbe.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und sie vertauschten ihre Herrlichkeit gegen das Bild eines Stieres, der Gras frißt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Misit verbum suum, et sanavit eos, et eripuit eos de interitionibus eorum.