Leviticus 26:1

“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh addresses the assembled Israelites through Moses, placing the prohibition against carved images at the foundation of the covenant blessings and curses. The command establishes exclusive worship as the immediate prerequisite for maintaining the relationship in the land.

The words — אֱלִילִ֗ם (ʾĕlîlîm) denotes worthless idols, while מַצֵּבָה֙ (maṣṣēḇâ) refers to a sacred pillar or standing stone. The text explicitly forbids crafting these objects or setting up sculpted stones for bowing.

The thread — This prohibition recurs in Leviticus 19:4, which bans turning to idols or making molten gods. It aligns with Exodus 23:24, which commands the demolition of foreign carved images, and Numbers 33:52, which requires driving out inhabitants and destroying their cast idols.

Why it lands — The text demands the complete removal of physical representations meant for worship. Readers must cease crafting or venerating carved images and recognize the speaker as the sole legitimate God.

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

לֹֽא־lo'-not תַעֲשׂ֨וּta.'a.Suyou must makeלָכֶ֜םla./Khemfor <the>/ yourselvesאֱלִילִ֗ם'e.li.Limworthless idols וּפֶ֤סֶלu./Fe.seland/ an idol וּמַצֵּבָה֙u./ma.tze.Vahand/ a sacred pillar לֹֽא־lo'-not תָקִ֣ימוּta.Ki.muyou must set upלָכֶ֔םla./Khemfor <the>/ yourselvesוְאֶ֣בֶןve./'E.venand/ a stone of מַשְׂכִּ֗יתmas.Kita carved image לֹ֤אlo'not תִתְּנוּ֙ti.te.Nuyou must make בְּאַרְצְכֶ֔םbe./'ar.tze./Khemin/ land/ your לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֖תle./hish.ta.cha.Votto/ bow down עָלֶ֑יהָ'a.Lei./hato/ it כִּ֛יkifor אֲנִ֥י'a.NiI יְהוָ֖הYah.weh[am] Yahweh אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃'e.lo.hei./KhemGod/ your

King James Version

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

Cross-references

Leviticus 19:4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
Exodus 23:24 You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
Numbers 33:52 you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
Deuteronomy 27:15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
1 Corinthians 10:19 Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
Revelation 13:14 Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.
Exodus 20:23 You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
Deuteronomy 16:21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,
Jeremiah 10:3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.