Exodus 34:15

Exo 34:15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and [one] call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

Ver. 15. And one call thee.] Any one of the idolatrous rout, if he do but hold up his finger to thee, thou wilt easily follow him. Cereus in vitium flecti. {a}

{a} Horat.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(15, 16) Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants.—If a covenant were made with the idolatrous nations of Canaan, and they were allowed to dwell in the land together with the Israelites (Exo_23:33), the danger would be, in the first place, that Israel would be induced to partake in the idol-feasts; secondly, that intermarriages would take place; and thirdly, that such Israelites as married idolatrous wives would be persuaded by them to join in their worship, and would thus be seduced into actual idolatry. Solomon’s example shows the reality of the peril. (See 1Ki_11:1-8.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. go a whoring after] a term of disparagement for, ‘desert Jehovah for.’ The same expression, v. 16, Deu_31:16 (J); Lev_17:7; Lev_20:5 (Heb. ‘after Molech’), both H; Jdg_2:17; Jdg_8:27; Jdg_8:33 (all the Deut. compiler); Eze_20:30; 1Ch_5:25 : also, more generally, of following an unworthy object, Lev_20:6, Num_15:39 (both H); Eze_6:9.

and thou eat, &c.] See on Exo_18:12; and comp. esp. Num_25:2.

15, 16. The consequences likely to follow from any alliance with the Canaanites: participation in their rites, and intermarriage with them, leading (v. 16b) to still further idolatry.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land,.... A marriage covenant, taking their daughters in marriage to their sons, and "vice versa", as the following words show; here the caution is to be understood and the words supplied from Exo 34:12 and inserted and connected thus, "take heed to thyself, lest thou make", &c.

and they go a whoring after their gods; that is, the inhabitants of the land, and particularly those with whom the Israelites made a covenant, and entered into a marriage relation with, and perhaps on this condition, that they would abstain from idolatry; and yet, contrary to the obligation they laid themselves under, lust after their idols, and commit spiritual fornication or adultery with them, which is explained by the next clause:

and do sacrifice unto their gods; such as the first institutors of their idolatry enjoined, and their ancestors had observed, and were according to the rites and customs of the country:

and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; invite to eat of what remained, that was offered to the idol: hence it appears, that having feasts at sacrifices, and eating things offered to idols in a festival way, are very ancient practices; see Co1 10:27.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Covenant. The same word occurs here, as (ver. 12,) in Hebrew and Septuagint. (Haydock) --- It relates chiefly to contracts of marriage, which God forbids the faithful to enter into with the Chanaanites, and with other idolatrous nations, lest they should follow their example. Solomon is reprehended for transgressing this law, (3 Kings xi. 1,) and such marriages are called abominations. (1 Esdras ix. 1.; x. 2, 10.; Josephus) But if any of those people became converts, the reason of the prohibition ceased. Hence a captive woman might be married, (Deuteronomy xxi. 11,) and Salmon took Rahab to wife. If Samson and Esther married with heathens, it might be done by God’s dispensation, for weighty reasons. (Tirinus) --- Fornication. On account of the dissolute behaviour of those idolater, their worship is often condemned under this name, Jeremias ii. and iii.; Ezechiel xvi. (Calmet) --- Sacrificed, and thus thou be drawn into a participation in his guilt. The other laws are here repeated from chap. xxiii. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

A covenant, for cohabitation, or to suffer them quietly to live among you, whom you should drive out.

Go a whoring, i.e. commit idolatry, which is oft called and compared to spiritual whoredom. See Jer 2; Jer 3; Eze 16.

And thou eat of his sacrifice to wit of the parts or remainders of his sacrifice, whereby thou wilt partake with him in an idolatrous worship; because such feasts were a part of the worship offered to the idol, and were accompanied with solemn benedictions and thanksgivings to the idol. See Num 25:2; Psa 106:28; Eze 18:6; 22:9; 1Co 10:20; Rev 2:20.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 15, 16. The probable consequences of making treaties with the Canaanite nations, alluded to in ver. 12, and in Exo_23:33, are here fully set forth. They include

1. Joining in their idol-feasts;

2. Intermarriages;

3. The actual apostasy of. those who married idolatrous wives.

The event fully justified the warning here given. See Jud_1:2:2, 11-13, 17 6:25 10:6, etc. They go a whoring. This expression, so common in the later books, is here used for the first time It implies that the relation between man and God is analogous to that of the marriage-bond, so that deserting him for other gods is a species of adultery. Compare the frequent representations in the New Testament of Christ as the "Bridegroom" and the Church as his "Bride."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues to tell Moses how his people are to behave towards outsiders.

for they prostitute themselves to their gods

God speaks of people worshiping other gods as if they were prostitutes going to other men. AT: "for they worship other gods" or "because they worship other gods like prostitutes who go to other men" (See: Metaphor)

you will eat some of his sacrifice

The consequence of eating food that is sacrificed to another god can be stated clearly. AT: "you will eat some of his sacrifice and become guilty of worshiping his gods" or "and you will prostitute yourself to his god by eating some of his sacrifice" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

covenant

prostitute

false god

sacrifice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ואכלת מזבחו AND THOU EAT OF HIS SACRIFICE — You might perhaps think that there is no punishable offence in eating of it, this is not so, but I will account it unto you as though you consent to his idolatrous worship because through this (through partaking of his meals) you will be induced to take your daughters unto your sons (cf. Avodah Zarah 8a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND THOU EAT OF THEIR SACRIFICE. “You might think that there is no punishment for eating thereof, but I will account it to you as if you agreed to its idolatrous worship.” This is Rashi’s language. But I say in accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis that this constitutes an admonition against eating of the sacrifices to idols, which they said is forbidden by law of the Torah, and we find no verse concerning it except this one. And the following is the meaning of the verse: “Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go astray after their gods, for they will always be sacrificing to them, and lest they call thee and thou eat of their sacrifice, which he will sacrifice to his gods in his going astray after them, and lest thou take of their daughters unto thy sons.” Thus they are all admonitions following the first prohibition, concerning which He said, lest thou make a covenant.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.