The immediately preceding warnings and prohibitions (see Deuteronomy 4:15–19) are summed up here, that to make an image of God in any form would be the same as forgetting the covenant of the Lord, which was to forget the relationship by which Israel was kept alive.
23 Veillez sur vous, afin de ne point mettre en oubli l'alliance que l'Eternel, votre Dieu, a traitée avec vous, et de ne point vous faire d'image taillée, de représentation quelconque, que l'Eternel, ton Dieu, t'ait défendue.