Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 7:4 
Context7:4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you.
Deuteronomy 7:16
Context7:16 You must destroy 1 all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship 2 their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
Deuteronomy 8:19
Context8:19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all 3 and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated.
Deuteronomy 11:28
Context11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention 4 to his 5 commandments and turn from the way I am setting before 6 you today to pursue 7 other gods you have not known.
Deuteronomy 12:2-3
Context12:2 You must by all means destroy 8 all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 9 12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 10 burn up their sacred Asherah poles, 11 and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place.
Deuteronomy 13:6
Context13:6 Suppose your own full brother, 12 your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods 13 that neither you nor your ancestors 14 have previously known, 15
Deuteronomy 13:13
Context13:13 some evil people 16 have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, 17 saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). 18
Deuteronomy 18:20
Context18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 19 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.
Deuteronomy 28:36
Context28:36 The Lord will force you and your king 20 whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there.
1 tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”
2 tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).
4 tn Heb “do not listen to,” that is, do not obey.
5 tn Heb “the commandments of the
6 tn Heb “am commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “walk after”; NIV “by following”; NLT “by worshiping.” This is a violation of the first commandment, the most serious of the covenant violations (Deut 5:6-7).
8 tn Heb “destroying you must destroy”; KJV “Ye shall utterly (surely ASV) destroy”; NRSV “must demolish completely.” The Hebrew infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by the words “by all means.”
9 sn Every leafy tree. This expression refers to evergreens which, because they keep their foliage throughout the year, provided apt symbolism for nature cults such as those practiced in Canaan. The deity particularly in view is Asherah, wife of the great god El, who was considered the goddess of fertility and whose worship frequently took place at shrines near or among clusters (groves) of such trees (see also Deut 7:5). See J. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:569-70; J. DeMoor, TDOT 1:438-44.
10 sn Sacred pillars. These are the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.
11 sn Sacred Asherah poles. The Hebrew term (plural) is אֲשֵׁרִים (’asherim). See note on the word “(leafy) tree” in v. 2, and also Deut 7:5.
12 tn Heb “your brother, the son of your mother.” In a polygamous society it was not rare to have half brothers and sisters by way of a common father and different mothers.
13 tn In the Hebrew text these words are in the form of a brief quotation: “entice you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods.’”
14 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 17).
15 tn Heb “which you have not known, you or your fathers.” (cf. KJV, ASV; on “fathers” cf. v. 18).
16 tn Heb “men, sons of Belial.” The Hebrew term בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al) has the idea of worthlessness, without morals or scruples (HALOT 133-34 s.v.). Cf. NAB, NRSV “scoundrels”; TEV, CEV “worthless people”; NLT “worthless rabble.”
17 tc The LXX and Tg read “your” for the MT’s “their.”
18 tn The translation understands the relative clause as a statement by Moses, not as part of the quotation from the evildoers. See also v. 2.
19 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
20 tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”
