Deuteronomy Chapter 29 verse 18 Holy Bible

ASV Deuteronomy 29:18

lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
read chapter 29 in ASV

BBE Deuteronomy 29:18

So that there may not be among you any man or woman or family or tribe whose heart is turned away from the Lord our God today, to go after other gods and give them worship; or any root among you whose fruit is poison and bitter sorrow;
read chapter 29 in BBE

DARBY Deuteronomy 29:18

lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood,
read chapter 29 in DARBY

KJV Deuteronomy 29:18

Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
read chapter 29 in KJV

WBT Deuteronomy 29:18

Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
read chapter 29 in WBT

WEB Deuteronomy 29:18

lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;
read chapter 29 in WEB

YLT Deuteronomy 29:18

lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:
read chapter 29 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 18. - Lest there should be among you; rather, See that there be not among you, etc. The part. פֵן, lest, at the beginning of a sentence, sometimes implies a prohibition or dissuasion, as Job 32:13, "say not;" Isaiah 36:18," beware of saying" (Gesenius, Noldius in voc.). Gall. The Hebrew word so rendered (רלֺאשׁ) is supposed by Gesenius to be the poppy plant, by Celsius to be the hemlock (it is so rendered, Hosea 10:4; Amos 6:12, and by AEdman to be colocynth. It is probably a general name for what is poisonous and bitter; for it is used of poison generally (Deuteronomy 32:32) and of the venom of asps (Deuteronomy 32:33; Job 20:16), as well as of poisonous roots and bitter fruits (see Kitto, 'Bibl. Cycl.,' 3:701). Coupled here with wormwood, it must be a plant that is referred to; and the union of the two affords "a striking image of the destructive fruit borne by idolatry" (Keil).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(18) Lest there should be.--The connection with Deuteronomy 29:15 seems to be this. "I make this covenant binding with all your generations, in case there should even now be any root of idolatry among you which may grow up and bring forth fruit in later times, and bring a curse upon your whole country." That there were such roots of idolatry is only too plain from Deuteronomy 31:16, and from what followed after the death of the elders of this generation. (Comp. Judges 2:10-12.)A root that beareth gall and wormwood.--The same two words occur in Lamentations 3:19, and one of them (gall) in Psalm 69:21. From whatever root it came, there was One to whom it was given to drink. The LXX. form of this expression, "lest there is among you any root that springeth up in gall and bitterness," is incorporated into the warning in Hebrews 12:15 : "Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." . . .