To swear by any god was virtually to acknowledge him as a witness and avenger in the case of the violation of contracts, and so in effect a suitable object of religious worship. This would mean, then, that Israel could not make any covenant with idolaters, for the only way to make it binding would be for the idolater to swear by his own god, and that would mean an acknowledgment of this god by the Israelite.

 For Moses’ instruction on this see Ex. 23:13 and Deut. 12:3. The very names of these gods were not to be used, nor even remembered.

 Literally, “do not go in unto these nations.” The Israelites, though living among these nations, were to have no intercourse with them. Any association, no matter how innocent it might appear, could lead to more intimate contacts which would eventually lure the soul from God. A similar prohibition still obtains. The NT injunction is, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14). The baneful results of a willful disregard of this command are often seen in the lives of the young, who, despite counsel, enter into marriage relationships with unbelievers. Besides finding a home in which true harmony can never reign, they often find, too, a growing distaste for religion, which results sooner or later in complete separation from God. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).