Deuteronomy 16:21

21 "You are not to plant any sort of tree as a sacred pole beside the altar of ADONAI your God that you will make for yourselves.

Deuteronomy 16:21 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 16:21

Thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees
Of any sort of trees, as oaks or any other; not but that it was lawful to plant trees and groves of them, but not for a religious or idolatrous use: particularly

near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee;
as the Heathens did near their altars, lest it should be thought to be done for a like superstitious and idolatrous use; which evil the Jews sometimes fell into in the times of wicked reigns, and which their good and pious kings removed and destroyed; see ( 2 Kings 18:4 ) ( 21:3 ) ( 2 Kings 23:4 2 Kings 23:7 2 Kings 23:14 2 Kings 23:15 ) and Hecataeus ^F2, an Heathen historian, relates of the city of Jerusalem, that there were there no image, nor plantation, nor grove, nor any such thing.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408.

Deuteronomy 16:21 In-Context

19 You are not to distort justice or show favoritism, and you are not to accept a bribe, for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of even the upright.

20 Justice, only justice, you must pursue; so that you will live and inherit the land ADONAI your God is giving you.

21 "You are not to plant any sort of tree as a sacred pole beside the altar of ADONAI your God that you will make for yourselves.

22 Likewise, do not set up a standing-stone; ADONAI your God hates such things.