Bible Strands
Exodus 23:32
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness, issuing conquest laws immediately after promising territorial expansion. The command follows the promise to drive out the inhabitants and precedes the warning against their remaining among the people.
The words — The verb תִכְרֹת (tikh.Rot) literally means "you must make," directly negated by לֹֽא (lo'-) and paired with בְּרִֽית (be.Rit), "a covenant." The construction explicitly prohibits forming any binding agreement with the land's inhabitants or their deities.
The thread — This prohibition reappears in Exodus 34:12 and Exodus 34:15, where treaties with the inhabitants are condemned as spiritual snares. Deuteronomy 7:2 reinforces the directive to devote the defeated peoples to complete destruction rather than pursue alliance.
Why it lands — The text forbids political or religious pacts with surrounding nations to protect Israel from idolatry. It requires the reader to prioritize exclusive loyalty to God over pragmatic compromise with hostile cultures.
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
Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Cross-references
- Exodus 34:12 Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
- Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Exodus 34:15 Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
- Deuteronomy 7:16 You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Psalms 106:35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
- 2 Corinthians 6:15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
- Numbers 25:1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
- Joshua 9:14 Then the men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not seek the counsel of the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 21:1 During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”