Deuteronomy 16:21
Thou shalt not plant thee, as a sacred stem, any tree,—near unto the altar of Yahweh thy God which thou shalt make for thyself;
The Emphasised Bible by J. B. Rotherham
In The King James Version
In Context
22neither shalt thou set thee up a pillar,—which Yahweh thy God, doth hate.
Cross References
Deuteronomy 7:5Verily, thus, shall ye do unto them: Their altars, shall ye tear down, And their pillars, shall ye break in pieces,—And their sacred stems, shall ye hew down, And their carved images, shall ye burn up in the fire.
1 Kings 14:15Therefore will Yahweh smite Israel, as a reed shaketh in water, and will root out Israel, from off this goodly soil, which he gave unto their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River (Euphrates),—because they have made their Sacred Stems, provoking Yahweh to anger:
2 Kings 17:16But they forsook all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made for themselves something molten—two calves, and made a Sacred Stem, and bowed themselves down to all the army of the heavens, and served Baal;
2 Kings 21:7and he set the image of the Sacred Stem which he had made,—in the house, of which Yahweh had said unto David, and unto Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my Name, unto times age-abiding;
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 16:19-22
18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. 19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. 20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any… Read the whole commentary →