Bible Strands
Exodus 22:20
If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — YHWH addresses Israel through Moses at Sinai, placing this command between regulations on bestiality and the protection of foreign residents.
The words — The text employs זֹבֵ֥חַ (zo.ve.ach, "one who sacrifices") and יָֽחֳרָ֑ם (yo.cho.Ram, "he will be dedicated to destruction") to establish the penalty for idolatrous worship.
The thread — This boundary against offering sacrifices to other deities recurs in Deuteronomy 17:2, Numbers 25:7, and Deuteronomy 18:20 regarding those who act outside YHWH's authority.
Why it lands — The text explicitly requires exclusive covenant loyalty by prescribing total separation for anyone who worships a deity besides YHWH.
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
He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 17:2 If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant
- Numbers 25:7 On seeing this, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand,
- Deuteronomy 18:20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.”
- Deuteronomy 13:1 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
- Numbers 25:2 who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.
- Numbers 21:3 And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.
- Joshua 23:15 But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.