Exodus 34:13

13 for their altars ye break down, and their standing pillars ye shiver, and its shrines ye cut down;

Exodus 34:13 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 34:13

But ye shall destroy their altars
On which they had sacrificed to their idols; since, if they were allowed to continue, they might be temptations to offer sacrifice thereon, contrary to the command of God:

break their images:
of gold or silver, wood or stone, which they made for themselves, and worshipped as deities; seeing if these continued, the sight of them might lead to the worship of them, and so bring under the divine displeasure, as a breach of the command of God given them:

and cut down their groves;
which were clusters of trees, where they had their temples and their idols, and did service to them, and where, besides idolatry, many impurities were committed. Such places were originally used by good men for devotion, being shady and solitary, but when abused to superstitious and idolatrous uses, were forbidden. It is said ^F14, the word for "grove" is general, and includes every tree they serve, or plant, for an idol.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 72. 1.

Exodus 34:13 In-Context

11 `Observe for thyself that which I am commanding thee to-day: lo, I am casting out from before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite;

12 take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land into which thou art going, lest it become a snare in thy midst;

13 for their altars ye break down, and their standing pillars ye shiver, and its shrines ye cut down;

14 for ye do not bow yourselves to another god -- for Jehovah, whose name [is] Zealous, is a zealous God.

15 `Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone a-whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and [one] hath called to thee, and thou hast eaten of his sacrifice,