Exodus 34:13

13 but ye shall demolish their altars, shatter their statues, and hew down their Asherahs.

Exodus 34:13 Meaning and Commentary

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 originally used by good men for devotion, being shady and solitary, but when abused to superstitious and idolatrous uses, were forbidden. It is said ^F14, the word for "grove" is general, and includes every tree they serve, or plant, for an idol.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 72. 1.

Exodus 34:13 In-Context

11 Observe what I command thee this day: behold, I will drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

12 Take heed to thyself, that thou make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which thou shalt come, lest it be a snare in the midst of thee;

13 but ye shall demolish their altars, shatter their statues, and hew down their Asherahs.

14 For thou shalt worship no other God; for Jehovah -- Jealous is his name -- is a jealous ·God;

15 lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and then, when they go a whoring after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, thou be invited, and eat of their sacrifice,

Footnotes

• [a]. Images of the goddess Asherah: possibly the same as Ashtoreth (Astarte): see Gen. 38.21.