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;
They go a whoring after their gods. This is the first instance of the use of a phrase which occurs very frequently in the later books, and it is applied to pagan women worshipping their idols. It describes a literal fact, as their worship was always accompanied with licentious rites and bacchanalian orgies; and hence, the Israelites were prohibited from forming matrimonial alliances with the people, lest such connections should lead them, as frequently happened, into the same wild revelry, (Leviticus 17:7; Leviticus 20:5-6; Numbers 14:33; Numbers 25:1, etc.)