Exodus 20:1-3

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 20:1-26

The Ten Commandments (vv. 1-21)Exodus 20-23, containing (1) the Decalogue (Gk. = ’Ten Words’ or ’Commandments’) and (2) a code of laws regulating the religious and social life of the people, and called the Book of the Covenant (see Exodus 24:7), form perhaps the most important part of the Pentateuch. It is the nucleus of the entire Mosaic legislation, and in all probability existed for long as a separate document.1-17. The Decalogue. In chapter Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13 this is called the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 20:1

XX.THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.(1) God spake.—It is distinctly stated in Deuteronomy that the Ten Commandments were spoken to “all the assembly of Israel,” by God, “out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice” (Deuteronomy 5:22). It was not till after their delivery that the people entreated to be spared further communications of so awful a character. How the sounds were produced is a mystery unrevealed, and on which it is idle to speculate. Jehovah alone... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 20:2

(2) I am the Lord thy God.—The binding nature of commands upon the conscience depends upon the authority of the person who issues them. That there might be no dispute as to what the authority was in the case of the Decalogue, God prefaced the commands themselves by this distinct statement. By whomsoever they were communicated (see the first Note on Exodus 20:1), they were the commands of Jehovah Himself.Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.—Thus exhibiting at once Almighty power and... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 20:3

(3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.—Heb., There shalt be to thee no other god before me. The result is the same, whether we translate Elohim by “god” or “gods;” but the singular verb shows that the plural form of the name is a mere plural of dignity.Before me—literally, before my face—means strictly, “side by side with me”—i.e., “in addition to me.” God does not suppose that the Israelites, after all that He had done for them, would discard Him, and substitute other gods in His place,... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Exodus 20:1-26

Exodus 20:1 'We have had thirty years of unexampled clerical activity among us,' said Froude to the St. Andrews' students in 1869. 'Churches have been doubled; theological books, magazines, reviews, newspapers have been passed out by the hundreds of thousands; while by the side of it there has sprung up an equally astonishing development of moral dishonesty.... We have false weights, false measures, cheating and shoddy everywhere. Yet the clergy have seen all this grow up in absolute... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 20:1-17

CHAPTER XX.THE LAW.Exodus 20:1-17.We have now reached that great event, one of the most momentous in all history, the giving of the Ten Commandments. And it is necessary to consider what was the meaning of this event, what part were they designed to play in the religious development of mankind.1. St. Paul tells us plainly what they did not effect. By the works of the law could no flesh be justified: to the father of the Hebrew race faith was reckoned instead of righteousness; the first of their... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 20:2

THE PROLOGUE.Exodus 20:2.The Decalogue is introduced by the words "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."Here, and in the previous chapter, is already a great advance upon the time when it was said to them "The God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, hath appeared." Now they are expected to remember what He has done for themselves. For, although religion must begin with testimony, it ought always to grow up into... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 20:3

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT."Thou shalt have none other gods before Me."-- Exodus 20:3.When these words fell upon the ears of Israel, they conveyed, as their primary thought, a prohibition of the formal worship of rival deities, Egyptian or Sidonian gods. Following immediately upon the proclamation of Jehovah, their own God, they declared His intolerance of rivalry, and enjoined a strict and jealous monotheism. For God was a reality. Races who worshipped idealisations or personifications might easily... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Exodus 20:1-26

CHAPTER 20 The Covenant Revealed 1. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17 ) 2. Jehovah’s gracious provision (Exodus 20:18-26 ) This law covenant is now stated. It was given three times. First orally here, when God spake all these words. Then in Exodus 31:0 Moses received the tables of stone, “written with the finger of God,” the same finger which later wrote on earth in the sand (John 8:0 ). The first tables were broken and Moses was commanded to hew two tables of stone upon which Jehovah... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Exodus 20:1

20:1 And God {a} spake all these words, saying,(a) When Moses and Aaron were gone up, or had passed the bounds of the people, God spoke thus out of the mount Horeb, that all the people heard. read more

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