Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 17:3
and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses outlines the judicial process for Israelites residing in the towns God is giving them, specifying the actions that constitute a covenant breach. The words — The text emphasizes וַיֵּלֶךְ (va.yelekh, "and he went") and וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲוֶה (va.yishtachah, "and he bowed down") to mark the deliberate movement toward and physical prostration before foreign deities or celestial bodies. The thread — This warning against celestial worship reappears in Deuteronomy 4:19 as a direct prohibition against enticement by the sun, moon, and stars, and surfaces in Job 31:26 as a conditional clause in a self-examination regarding reverence for created light. Why it lands — The text requires readers to recognize that covenant loyalty demands exclusive allegiance, making the veneration of any created light or foreign deity a direct violation of divine command.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 7:31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
- Deuteronomy 4:19 When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
- Job 31:26 if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
- Jeremiah 7:22 For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
- Jeremiah 19:5 They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.
- Jeremiah 32:35 They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin.
- 2 Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.
- Jeremiah 8:2 They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.
- Ezekiel 8:16 So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.