Deuteronomy 29:26

They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known—gods that the LORD had not given to them.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel regarding their future apostasy during exile, framing their idolatry as the direct cause of the covenant curses about to fall upon them. The passage functions as a prophetic indictment that explains why the nation will abandon the covenant made at Egypt.

The words — וַ/יַּֽעַבְדוּ (va/i.ya.'av.Du) = and they served [H5647]; אֲחֵרִ֔ים ('a.che.Rim) = other [H312]. The text states that the people actively served other deities and performed prostration toward gods they had never previously encountered.

The thread — This sequence of covenant abandonment followed by foreign worship appears in Deuteronomy 28:64, Judges 2:12, and Judges 5:8. Each reference links the adoption of unapproved gods to subsequent divine judgment, military vulnerability, or national scattering.

Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to acknowledge that covenant loyalty demands exclusive allegiance, as pursuing unauthorized deities constitutes a direct violation of the established relationship. It establishes idolatry not as a private preference but as a structural breach that triggers the written curses.

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

וַיֵּלְכ֗וּva/i.ye.le.Khuand/ they went וַיַּֽעַבְדוּ֙va/i.ya.'av.Duand/ they served אֱלֹהִ֣ים'E.lo.Himgods אֲחֵרִ֔ים'a.che.Rimother וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוּ֖וּva/i.yish.ta.cha.Vuand/ they bowed downלָהֶ֑םla./Hemto <the>/ themאֱלֹהִים֙'E.lo.Himgods אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich לֹֽא־lo'-not יְדָע֔וּםye.da.'U/mthey had known/ them וְלֹ֥אve./Lo'and/ not חָלַ֖קcha.Lakhe had assignedלָהֶֽם׃la./Hemto <the>/ them

King James Version

For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 28:64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
Judges 2:12 Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger,
Judges 5:8 When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel.
2 Kings 17:7 All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods
2 Chronicles 36:12 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the LORD.
Jeremiah 19:3 saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of all who hear of it will ring,
Jeremiah 44:2 “This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation