Passage

Deuteronomy 16.21

Book: Deuteronomy · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"19. Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe; for a bribe 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 Jehovah thy God giveth thee."

"21. Thou shalt not plant thee an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah thy God, which thou shalt make thee."

"22. Neither shalt thou set thee up a pillar; which Jehovah thy God hateth." (Deuteronomy 16:19-22, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"19. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous. 20. You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you."

"21. You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside Yahweh your God’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves."

"22. Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which Yahweh your God hates." (Deuteronomy 16:19-22, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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. ^{words: or, matters} 20. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. ^{That which: Heb. Justice, justice}"

"21. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee."

"22. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth. ^{image: or, statue, or, pillar}" (Deuteronomy 16:19-22, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"19. Thou dost not turn aside judgment; thou dost not discern faces, nor take a bribe, for the bribe blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. 20. Righteousness, righteousness thou dost pursue, so that thou livest, and hast possessed the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee."

"21. 'Thou dost not plant for thee a shrine of any trees near the altar of Jehovah thy God, which thou makest for thyself,"

"22. and thou dost not raise up to thee any standing image which Jehovah thy God is hating." (Deuteronomy 16:19-22, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.