John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 16:22

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

Neither shall you set yourself up. Therefore, it also becomes clearer what the meaning and tendency of the Second Commandment are.

God elsewhere commands,¹⁰⁰ (as we have seen,) that statues¹⁰¹ should be erected on the borders of the land, on which the sum of the Law should be inscribed. At first sight, this prohibition seems contradictory.

Indeed, it would be so, unless you understand “statue” in this context to mean a false image of God, in which people set Him before them in bodily form. It is therefore added that He hates such statues.

However, I have preferred translating¹⁰² the relative pronoun in the neuter gender so that the sentence might be fuller: that is, that erecting statues is an abomination to the Lord. This is because His glory is dishonored when He is given a bodily form, or when anything corporeal is mixed with His spiritual nature.

¹⁰⁰Deuteronomy 27:2–3. See . See vol. 1, p. 369..

¹⁰¹ A.V, image. image. Margin, statue, or pillar.statue, or pillar.

¹⁰² C makes the relative refer, not to the image set up, but to the act of setting it up. So also makes the relative refer, not to the image set up, but to the act of setting it up. So also V. and Dathe, though the relative is plural with them. and Dathe, though the relative is plural with them.