Exodus 20:5-6 NIV

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Exodus 20:1-17

2. The Ten Commandments 20:1-17"We now reach the climax of the entire Book, the central and most exalted theme, all that came before being, as it were, a preparation for it, and all that follows, a result of, and supplement to it." [Note: Cassuto, p. 235.] There are two types of law in the Old Testament, and these existed commonly in the ancient Near East. Apodictic laws are commands with the force of categorical imperatives. They are positive or negative. The Ten Commandments are an example of... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Exodus 20:4-6

The second commandment 20:4-6"As the first commandment forbids any association with other gods to those who would be Yahweh’s, the second commandment and the two that follow it set special dimensions of their relationship with him." [Note: Ibid.] This command was a prohibition against making images or likenesses of Yahweh. God did not forbid making pictures or images of other creatures. The rationale behind this command is that any likeness of God demeans Him and retards rather than advances... read more

John Dummelow

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 20:5

(5) Nor serve them.—The idolatry of the ancient world was, practically, not a mere worship of celestial beings through material representations of them, but an actual culture of the images themselves, which were regarded as possessed of miraculous powers. “I myself,” says Arnobius, “not so very long ago, worshipped gods just taken out of the furnace, fresh from the anvil of the smith, ivory, paintings, stumps of trees swathed in bandages; and if I happened to cast my eyes on a polished stone... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 20:6

(6) Shewing mercy unto thousands.—Rather, to the thousandth generation, as is distinctly expressed in Deuteronomy 7:9. God’s mercy infinitely transcends His righteous anger. Sin is visited on three, or at most four, generations. Righteousness is remembered, and advantages descendants, for ever. 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 20:4-6

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT."Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, ... thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them."-- Exodus 20:4-6.How far does the second of these clauses modify the first? Men there are who maintain the severe independence of the former, so that it forbids the presence of any image or likeness in the house of God, even for innocent purposes of adornment. But the Decalogue is not a liturgical directory: what it forbids in church it forbids anywhere; and on... 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 20:5

20:5 Thou shalt not {c} bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a {d} jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;(c) By this outward gesture, all forms of service and worship to idols is forbidden.(d) And will have revenge on those who condemn my honour. read more

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Exodus 20:1-17

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Exodus 20:4-6

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

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 20:5

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 20:6

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

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

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 20:4-6

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

Geneva Study Bible - Exodus 20:5

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