Deuteronomy 4:28

28 "1There you will serve gods, the work of man's hands, 2wood and stone, 3which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

Deuteronomy 4:28 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:28

And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood
and stone
Idols made by men, cut out of wood and stone; these they should be enticed into the service of, or compelled to serve; which was still more brutish and stupid than to worship the sun, moon, and stars, which were not the works of men's hand, but the glorious works of the eternal God. But since in their captivities they were not subject to idolatry, but were cured of it thereby, another sense of the words is given by some, as by Onkelos and Jonathan, who paraphrase the words of serving the people, that serve idols; but what follows confirms the first sense:

which neither see, nor hear, nor taste, nor smell;
senseless things, which have none of the senses of seeing, hearing, and smelling, nor the faculty of eating, which they need not to support life, of which they are destitute; and therefore it must be monstrous stupidity to worship such lifeless, senseless, objects; see ( Psalms 115:4-7 ) .

Deuteronomy 4:28 In-Context

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.
27 "The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD drives you.
28 "There you will serve gods, the work of man's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
29 "But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.
30 "When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Deuteronomy 28:36, 64; Jeremiah 16:13
  • 2. Deuteronomy 29:17
  • 3. Psalms 115:4-8; Psalms 135:15-18; Isaiah 44:12-20
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.