Deuteronomio 12:3

3 e disfate i loro altari, e spezzate le loro statue, e bruciate col fuoco i lor boschi, e tagliate a pezzi le sculture de’ lor dii; e sterminate il lor nome da quel luogo.

Deuteronomio 12:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 12:3

And you shall overthrow their altars
Which were of stone, as Jarchi observes; whereas the altar ordered to be made by the Lord, before the altar of burnt offering in the tabernacle was made, was of earth, ( Exodus 20:24 ) these were to be demolished, lest the Israelites should be tempted to make use of them; and besides, the Lord would not have any remains of idolatry in the land where his tabernacle and worship were, as being abominable to him:

and break down their pillars;
or statues erected to the honour of their idols; according to Jarchi it was a single stone hewed out at first for the basis of a statue ^F25; perhaps such as were called Baetulia, in imitation of the stone Jacob set up for a pillar at Bethel, ( Genesis 28:18 Genesis 28:19 )

and burn their groves with fire;
which were planted about their temples, and under which also their idols were placed, and where they privately committed the most abominable lewdness under the notion of religion. The Targum of Jonathan renders the word "abominations", meaning idols; and so Jarchi interprets it by a tree that is worshipped; (See Gill on Deuteronomy 7:5)

and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods;
which were made of wood:

and destroy the names of them out of the place;
by never making any mention of them in common discourse, and by changing the names of places called from them; and especially by destroying all the relics of them, and whatever appertained to them, which might lead to the mention of them; see ( Hosea 2:17 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Misn. Avodah Zarah, c. 3. sect. 7.

Deuteronomio 12:3 In-Context

1 QUESTI sono gli statuti e le leggi, i quali voi osserverete, per metterli in opera, nel paese che il Signore Iddio de’ vostri padri vi dà, per possederlo, tutto il tempo che voi viverete in su la terra.

2 Del tutto distruggete tutti i luoghi, ne’ quali quelle nazioni, il cui paese voi possederete, hanno servito agl’iddii loro, sopra gli alti monti, e sopra i colli, e sotto qualunque albero verdeggiante;

3 e disfate i loro altari, e spezzate le loro statue, e bruciate col fuoco i lor boschi, e tagliate a pezzi le sculture de’ lor dii; e sterminate il lor nome da quel luogo.

4 Non fate così inverso il Signore Iddio vostro.

5 Anzi ricercatelo nel luogo che il Signore Iddio vostro avrà scelto d’infra tutte le vostre tribù, per sua abitazione, per mettervi il suo Nome; e là andate.