Exodus 34:16
And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
And when you take
The phrase "And when you take" implies an action that is not merely hypothetical but anticipated. In the Hebrew context, the verb "take" (לָקַח, laqach) often denotes acquiring or receiving, which can be seen in various covenantal and relational contexts throughout the Old Testament. This action is a deliberate choice, highlighting the responsibility and agency of the Israelites in their interactions with surrounding nations.

some of their daughters
The "daughters" here refer to the women of the Canaanite nations. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, marriages were often used to form alliances and integrate different peoples. However, the daughters of these nations were seen as conduits of foreign religious practices, which posed a spiritual threat to the Israelites. The emphasis on "their daughters" underscores the distinct identity and practices of the Canaanites, which were contrary to the worship of Yahweh.

as brides for your sons
The phrase "as brides for your sons" indicates the formation of familial and covenantal bonds through marriage. In the Hebrew tradition, marriage was not only a personal union but also a communal and spiritual one. The concern here is that these marriages would lead to the assimilation of pagan practices into Israelite life, thus compromising their covenant with God.

their daughters will prostitute themselves
The term "prostitute themselves" (זָנָה, zanah) is a strong expression used metaphorically to describe unfaithfulness to God. In the prophetic literature, idolatry is often depicted as spiritual adultery. This phrase suggests that the daughters' involvement in pagan worship is akin to infidelity, highlighting the severity of turning away from Yahweh.

to their gods
"To their gods" refers to the deities worshiped by the Canaanite peoples. The polytheistic practices of these nations were in direct opposition to the monotheistic worship of Yahweh. The mention of "their gods" serves as a reminder of the spiritual dangers posed by these foreign influences and the importance of maintaining exclusive devotion to the God of Israel.

and cause your sons to do the same
The phrase "and cause your sons to do the same" warns of the inevitable influence that these marriages would have on the Israelite men. The Hebrew word for "cause" (נָתַן, nathan) implies a giving or setting, indicating that the daughters' practices would be imparted to the sons. This highlights the communal and generational impact of idolatry, stressing the importance of guarding against spiritual compromise.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The leader of the Israelites who received the commandments from God on Mount Sinai.

2. Israelites
The chosen people of God, who were being led out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.

3. Canaanites
The inhabitants of the land that God promised to the Israelites, known for their idolatrous practices.

4. Mount Sinai
The mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments and other laws from God.

5. God
The one true God who is giving these instructions to protect His people from idolatry.
Teaching Points
Guarding Against Idolatry
The command in Exodus 34:16 is a protective measure to keep the Israelites from being led astray by foreign gods. Believers today must be vigilant against modern forms of idolatry.

The Influence of Relationships
Relationships have a profound impact on our spiritual lives. Choosing partners who share our faith is crucial to maintaining a strong relationship with God.

Obedience to God's Commands
God's instructions are given for our benefit and protection. Obedience leads to blessing, while disobedience can lead to spiritual downfall.

The Importance of Purity
Spiritual purity is essential for maintaining a close relationship with God. This includes being mindful of the influences we allow into our lives.

Community and Accountability
The community of believers plays a vital role in encouraging one another to remain faithful to God's commands and avoid the pitfalls of idolatry.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the command in Exodus 34:16 reflect God's desire for the spiritual purity of His people?

2. In what ways can modern believers guard against the influence of idolatry in their lives?

3. How can the principle of not being unequally yoked be applied in today's context, especially in relationships and partnerships?

4. What lessons can we learn from the account of Solomon regarding the consequences of disobedience to God's commands about intermarriage?

5. How can the church community support individuals in making choices that align with God's will, particularly in the area of relationships?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 7:3-4
This passage reiterates the command not to intermarry with the surrounding nations to prevent turning away from God.

1 Kings 11:1-4
The account of Solomon, whose foreign wives led him to idolatry, serves as a historical example of the consequences warned about in Exodus 34:16.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Paul advises believers not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, echoing the principle of separation from idolatry.

Ezra 9:1-2
The returnees from exile are confronted with the issue of intermarriage with foreign women, leading to a call for repentance.

Nehemiah 13:23-27
Nehemiah deals with the issue of intermarriage, reminding the people of Solomon's downfall due to foreign wives.
Renewal of the Tables, and Fourth IntercessionJ. Orr Exodus 34:1-10, 28
Revived ObligationsJ. Orr Exodus 34:10-29
People
Aaron, Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Hivite, Hivites, Israelites, Jebusites, Moses, Perizzites
Places
Egypt, Mount Sinai, Sinai
Topics
Astray, A-whoring, Cause, Caused, Daughters, Gods, Harlot, Hast, Lead, Play, Prostitute, Sons, Themselves, Whoring, Wives, Worship
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 34:16

     5711   marriage, restrictions
     5744   wife

Exodus 34:10-17

     5211   art

Exodus 34:10-35

     4269   Sinai, Mount

Exodus 34:12-16

     5811   compromise

Exodus 34:15-16

     1346   covenants, nature of
     5355   invitations

Library
Blessed and Tragic Unconsciousness
'... Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.'--EXODUS xxxiv. 29. '... And Samson wist not that the Lord had departed from him.'--JUDGES xvi. 20. The recurrence of the same phrase in two such opposite connections is very striking. Moses, fresh from the mountain of vision, where he had gazed on as much of the glory of God as was accessible to man, caught some gleam of the light which he adoringly beheld; and a strange radiance sat on his face, unseen by himself, but
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

God Proclaiming his Own Name
'The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.'--EXODUS xxxiv. 6. This great event derives additional significance and grandeur from the place in which it stands. It follows the hideous act of idolatry in which the levity and sinfulness of Israel reached their climax. The trumpet of Sinai had hardly ceased to peal, and there in the rocky solitudes, in full view of the mount 'that burned with fire,'
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Jealous God
I. Reverently, let us remember that THE LORD IS EXCEEDINGLY JEALOUS OF HIS DEITY. Our text is coupled with the command--"Thou shalt worship no other God." When the law was thundered from Sinai, the second commandment received force from the divine jealousy--"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 9: 1863

The Knowledge that God Is, Combined with the Knowledge that He is to be Worshipped.
John iv. 24.--"God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." There are two common notions engraven on the hearts of all men by nature,--that God is, and that he must be worshipped, and these two live and die together, they are clear, or blotted together. According as the apprehension of God is clear, and distinct, and more deeply engraven on the soul, so is this notion of man's duty of worshipping God clear and imprinted on the soul, and whenever the actions
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Nature of the Renderings
From the text we now turn to the renderings, and to the general principles that were followed, both in the Old and in the New Testament. The revision of the English text was in each case subject to the same general rule, viz. "To introduce as few alterations as possible into the Text of the Authorised Version consistently with faithfulness"; but, owing to the great difference between the two languages, the Hebrew and the Greek, the application of the rule was necessarily different, and the results
C. J. Ellicott—Addresses on the Revised Version of Holy Scripture

Elijah's Weakness, and Its Cube
'And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time. 3. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"That the Righteousness of the Law Might be Fulfilled in Us. "
Rom. viii. 4.--"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." God having a great design to declare unto the world both his justice and mercy towards men, he found out this mean most suitable and proportioned unto it, which is here spoken of in the third verse,--to send his own Son to bear the punishment of sin, that the righteousness of the law might be freely and graciously fulfilled in sinners. And, indeed, it was not imaginable by us, how he could declare both in the salvation
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Moses --Making Haste
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "And Moses made haste . . ."--Ex. xxxiv. 8. THIS passage is by far the greatest passage in the whole of the Old Testament. This passage is the parent passage, so to speak, of all the greatest passages of the Old Testament. This passage now open before us, the text and the context, taken together, should never be printed but in letters of gold a finger deep. There is no other passage to be set beside this passage till we come to the opening passages of the New
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

The Christian's God
Scripture References: Genesis 1:1; 17:1; Exodus 34:6,7; 20:3-7; Deuteronomy 32:4; 33:27; Isaiah 40:28; 45:21; Psalm 90:2; 145:17; 139:1-12; John 1:1-5; 1:18; 4:23,24; 14:6-11; Matthew 28:19,20; Revelation 4:11; 22:13. WHO IS GOD? How Shall We Think of God?--"Upon the conception that is entertained of God will depend the nature and quality of the religion of any soul or race; and in accordance with the view that is held of God, His nature, His character and His relation to other beings, the spirit
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Jehovah. The "I Am. "
WHEN Moses in the desert beheld the burning bush God answered his question by the revelation of His name as the "I Am." "And God said unto Moses, I am, that I am: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exod. iii:14). He who spake thus out of the bush to Moses was the same who in the fullness of time appeared upon the earth in the form of man. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no less person, than the I AM. If we turn to the fourth Gospel in which the Holy
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful.
That The Employing Of, And Associating With The Malignant Party, According As Is Contained In The Public Resolutions, Is Sinful And Unlawful. If there be in the land a malignant party of power and policy, and the exceptions contained in the Act of Levy do comprehend but few of that party, then there need be no more difficulty to prove, that the present public resolutions and proceedings do import an association and conjunction with a malignant party, than to gather a conclusion from clear premises.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Exercise of Mercy Optional with God.
ROMANS ix. 15.--"For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." This is a part of the description which God himself gave to Moses, of His own nature and attributes. The Hebrew legislator had said to Jehovah: "I beseech thee show me thy glory." He desired a clear understanding of the character of that Great Being, under whose guidance he was commissioned to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. God said to
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

The True Tabernacle, and Its Glory of Grace and Peace
THERE WAS A TIME when God freely communed with men. The voice of the Lord God was heard walking in the garden in the cool of the day. With unfallen Adam the great God dwelt in sweet and intimate fellowship; but sin came and not only destroyed the garden, but destroyed the intercourse of God with His creature man. A great gulf opened between man as evil, and God as infinitely pure; and had it not been for the amazing goodness of the most High, we must all of us forever have been banished from His
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 31: 1885

Because of his Importunity
"I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will arise and give him as many as he needeth."--LUKE xi. 8. "And He spake a parable unto them, to the end, they ought always to pray and not to faint.... Hear what the unrighteous judge saith. And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry to Him day and night, and He is long-suffering with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily."--LUKE xviii. 1-8. Our Lord Jesus
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

The Mercy of God
The next attribute is God's goodness or mercy. Mercy is the result and effect of God's goodness. Psa 33:5. So then this is the next attribute, God's goodness or mercy. The most learned of the heathens thought they gave their god Jupiter two golden characters when they styled him good and great. Both these meet in God, goodness and greatness, majesty and mercy. God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psa 119:98. Thou art good, and doest good.' This
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Formation of the Old Testament Canon
[Sidenote: Israel's literature at the beginning of the fourth century before Christ] Could we have studied the scriptures of the Israelitish race about 400 B.C., we should have classified them under four great divisions: (1) The prophetic writings, represented by the combined early Judean, Ephraimite, and late prophetic or Deuteronomic narratives, and their continuation in Samuel and Kings, together with the earlier and exilic prophecies; (2) the legal, represented by the majority of the Old Testament
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

That Deep Things Ought not to be Preached at all to Weak Souls.
But the preacher should know how to avoid drawing the mind of his hearer beyond its strength, lest, so to speak, the string of the soul, when stretched more than it can bear, should be broken. For all deep things should be covered up before a multitude of hearers, and scarcely opened to a few. For hence the Truth in person says, Who, thinkest thou, is the faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord has appointed over his household, to give them their measure of wheat in due season? (Luke xii. 42).
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Lord of Glory.
1 Cor. ii:8. OUR ever blessed Lord, who died for us, to whom we belong, with whom we shall be forever, is the Lord of Glory. Thus He is called in 1 Cor. ii:8, "for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." Eternally He is this because He is "the express image of God, the brightness of His Glory" (Heb. i:3). He possessed Glory with the Father before the world was (John xvii:5). This Glory was beheld by the prophets, for we read that Isaiah "saw His Glory and spake of Him"
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Development of the Earlier Old Testament Laws
[Sidenote: First the principle, and then the detailed laws] If the canon of the New Testament had remained open as long as did that of the Old, there is little doubt that it also would have contained many laws, legal precedents, and ecclesiastical histories. From the writings of the Church Fathers and the records of the Catholic Church it is possible to conjecture what these in general would have been. The early history of Christianity illustrates the universal fact that the broad principles are
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Moses the Type of Christ.
"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken."--Deut. xviii. 15. The history of Moses is valuable to Christians, not only as giving us a pattern of fidelity towards God, of great firmness, and great meekness, but also as affording us a type or figure of our Saviour Christ. No prophet arose in Israel like Moses, till Christ came, when the promise in the text was fulfilled--"The Lord thy God," says Moses, "shall
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

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