Deuteronomy 4:16

16 lest ye transgress, and make to yourselves a carved image, any kind of figure, the likeness of male or female,

Deuteronomy 4:16 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:16

Lest ye corrupt yourselves
And not themselves only, but the word and worship of God, by idolatry, than which nothing is more corrupting and defiling, nor more abominable to God:

and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure;
a graven image, in the likeness of any figure, an idea of which they had formed in their minds;

the likeness of male or female;
of a man or a woman; so some of the Heathen deities were in the likeness of men, as Jupiter, Mars, Hercules, Apollo and others in the likeness of women, as Juno, Diana, Venus Some think Osiris and Isis, Egyptian deities, the one male, the other female, are respected; but it is not certain that these were worshipped by them so early.

Deuteronomy 4:16 In-Context

14 And the Lord commanded me at that time, to teach you ordinances and judgments, that ye should do them on the land, into which ye go to inherit it.

15 And take good heed to your hearts, for ye saw no similitude in the day in which the Lord spoke to you in Choreb in the mountain out of the midst of the fire:

16 lest ye transgress, and make to yourselves a carved image, any kind of figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 the likeness of any beast of those that are on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird which flies under heaven,

18 the likeness of any reptile which creeps on the earth, the likeness of any fish of those which are in the waters under the earth;