Devarim 18:9

9 When thou art come into ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to imitate the to’avot (abominations) of those Goyim.

Devarim 18:9 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 18:9

When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee
The land of Canaan, often thus described, to express the goodness of God in bestowing it on them, as a mere favour of his, without any desert of theirs; and so typical of the heavenly Canaan, or eternal life, which is the free gift of God through Christ:

thou shall not learn to do after the abominations of these nations;
the seven nations which before inhabited it; they might learn, as Jarchi observes, to know how corrupt their works were, and to show to their children, that they might not do so; but they were not to learn them so as to practise them, but to have them in the utmost abhorrence, as being abominable to God, and which should be so to them; some of which are as follow.

Devarim 18:9 In-Context

7 Then he shall minister in the Shem of Hashem Elohav, as all his achim the Levi’im do, which stand there before Hashem.

8 They shall have chelek k’chelek (like portions) to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.

9 When thou art come into ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to imitate the to’avot (abominations) of those Goyim.

10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his ben or his bat to pass through the eish (i.e., be burned as an idol’s offering) or kosem kesamim (a diviner of divination) or a m’onen (soothsayer, astrologer), or a m’nachesh (one who interprets omens), or a mekhashshef (witch).

11 Or one who casts spells, or one who inquires of a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a doresh el hamesim (a consulter of the dead ones, i.e., a necromancer).