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Exodus 20

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The Lord Declares the Covenant 1–2

1
And God spake all these words, saying, ​
2
I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ​

The First Four Commandments: Duty to God 3–11

3
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ​
4
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ​
5
thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me, ​
6
and showing lovingkindness unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. ​
7
Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. ​
8
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ​
9
Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work;
10
but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11
for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. ​

The Last Six Commandments: Duty to Neighbor 12–17

12
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. ​
13
Thou shalt not kill. ​
14
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15
Thou shalt not steal.
16
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
17
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s. ​

The People’s Fear and Request 18–21

18
And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. ​
19
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before you, that ye sin not. ​
21
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

Instructions for Worship and Altars 22–26

22
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. ​
23
Ye shall not make other gods with me; gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you.
24
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in every place where I record my name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee. ​
25
And if thou make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. ​
26
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 20

Verse 1

all these words — Dabar, 'word': the 'ten commandments' are literally the ten words (Ex 34:28; Deut 4:13). The LORD spoke them himself to the whole assembly 'out of the midst of the fire… with a great voice: and he added no more', then wrote them on two tables of stone (Deut 5:22). Stephen calls them 'the lively oracles' (Acts 7:38).

Verse 2

which have brought thee out — The commands open with what the LORD has done before what he asks: 'out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage', literally the house of servants (ebed). The same words stand at Deut 5:6 and Hos 13:4, 'there is no saviour beside me', and Lev 26:13, 'that ye should not be their bondmen'.

Verse 3

no other gods before me — 'Before me' is literally 'before my face', in his presence. Christ answers the tempter with the same demand, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve' (Matt 4:10; cf. Deut 6:13). The LORD says elsewhere, 'I am God, and there is none else' (Isa 46:9).

Verse 4

graven image, or any likeness — Pesel is a carved image, and temunah, 'likeness', is the word of Deut 4:12, 'ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude'. Moses gives that as the reason, 'ye saw no manner of similitude' at Horeb, and lists the forms forbidden: male or female, beast, bird, creeping thing, fish (Deut 4:15–18).

Verse 5

a jealous God — Qanna, 'jealous', is used only of the LORD (Ex 34:14, 'whose name is Jealous'; Deut 4:24; 5:9; 6:15). The visiting is 'of them that hate me', and Ezek 18:20 states that 'the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father'. The words are repeated with the mercy beside them in Ex 34:6–7 and Num 14:18.

Verse 6

shewing mercy unto thousands — Chesed, covenant mercy, reaches 'thousands' where the visiting of iniquity reaches 'the third and fourth generation'; Deut 7:9 gives the extent, 'to a thousand generations'. It goes to those 'that love me and keep my commandments', and Christ says the same: 'He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me' (John 14:21).

Verse 7

in vain — Nasa, 'take', is to lift up or carry, and shav is what is empty or false; Lev 19:12 applies it to oaths, 'ye shall not swear by my name falsely'. Christ speaks to the same matter: 'let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay' (Matt 5:37; cf. James 5:12). 'Not hold him guiltless' (naqah, to be clean) recurs in Deut 5:11.

Verse 8

Remember the sabbath day — 'Remember' (zakar) looks back: the sabbath was kept with the manna, 'To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD' (Ex 16:23), and goes back to Gen 2:3. 'Keep it holy' is qadash, the verb of 'sanctified' there and 'hallowed' in v.11. At Sinai it is 'a sign between me and you' (Ex 31:13).

Verse 11

in six days the LORD made heaven and earth — The ground of the sabbath is the creation week: 'blessed' (barak) and 'hallowed' (qadash) are the two verbs of Gen 2:3, 'God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it'. Deuteronomy gives the other ground, redemption: 'remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt' (Deut 5:15). The sabbath is 'a sign' for ever (Ex 31:17).

Verse 12

Honour thy father and thy mother — Kabad is to give weight to; it is the verb of 'Honour the LORD with thy substance' (Prov 3:9). Paul calls this 'the first commandment with promise' (Eph 6:2) and quotes the promise, 'that it may be well with thee' (Eph 6:3). Christ holds it against a tradition 'making the word of God of none effect' (Mark 7:10–13).

Verse 13

Thou shalt not kill — Ratsach is the verb of the manslayer for whom the cities of refuge were set apart (Num 35:6, 11). The ground is given at Gen 9:6: 'in the image of God made he man'. Christ carries the command to the heart: 'whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment' (Matt 5:22).

Verse 17

Thou shalt not covet — Chamad, to desire, is the verb of Gen 3:6, the tree 'to be desired'. The commandment is aimed at desire itself. Paul says 'I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet' (Rom 7:7), and he calls covetousness 'idolatry' (Col 3:5), which brings the command back to v.3.

Verse 18

saw the thunderings — 'Thunderings' and 'noise' are both qol, 'voice' or 'sound', so the people 'saw' the voices: 'thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud' (Ex 19:16). Hebrews recalls it: 'ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched' (Heb 12:18), and the hearers 'intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more' (Heb 12:19).

Verse 20

Fear not — One root is used twice: 'Fear not' (yare), and then 'his fear' (yirah) before their faces; the dread of the sight is set aside for the fear of the LORD that keeps from sin (Prov 3:7). 'To prove' is nasah, to test, as in Deut 8:2, 'to humble thee, and to prove thee'. The purpose is stated: 'that ye sin not'.

Verse 22

talked with you from heaven — The LORD 'descended upon it in fire' (Ex 19:18) and yet spoke 'from heaven': 'Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven' (Neh 9:13; Deut 4:36). What follows (vv.22–26) leads into 'the judgments' of ch.21. Hebrews adds, 'See that ye refuse not him that speaketh' (Heb 12:25).

Verse 24

where I record my name — 'Record' is zakar in its causing form, 'to bring to remembrance', the verb of 'Remember' in v.8: where he makes his name remembered, he comes and blesses. The altar (mizbeach, from zabach, to slaughter) takes burnt offerings and peace offerings. Later he 'shall choose' one place for his name (Deut 12:5).

Verse 25

hewn stone — The 'tool' is chereb, the sword or cutting edge, the word of Gen 3:24, and stone it has cut is 'polluted' (chalal, profaned). The rule is kept at Mount Ebal: 'an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them' (Deut 27:5), 'an altar of whole stones' (Josh 8:31).