Bible Strands
Exodus 23:33
They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God issues this command to Moses and Israel during the conquest phase, directly following the prohibition against making covenants with the land's inhabitants. The directive establishes territorial exclusion as the immediate boundary for Israel's settlement.
The words — The verb יֵשְׁבוּ (ye.she.Vu) means "they will dwell," paired with פֶּן (pen), "lest," to frame the prohibition against remaining. The causative verb יַחֲטִיאוּ (ya.cha.Ti.'u) literally translates to "they should cause to sin," indicating induced idolatry.
The thread — This warning against foreign presence and idolatrous entanglement runs through Exodus 34:12, Deuteronomy 7:16, and Psalms 106:36, where shared worship becomes a snare. The texts consistently link territorial coexistence with spiritual compromise.
Why it lands — The text demands the removal of foreign populations to prevent induced sin and the worship of other gods. It requires readers to treat spiritual fidelity as dependent on strict separation from idolatrous systems.
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
They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.
Cross-references
- Psalms 106:36 They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
- 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.
- 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.
- Joshua 23:13 know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.
- Judges 2:3 So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
- Deuteronomy 12:30 be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
- 2 Timothy 2:26 Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.
- 1 Samuel 18:21 “I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”
- 1 Kings 14:16 So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
- 2 Chronicles 33:9 So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.