Exodus 20:3-7

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Exodus 20:7

This is the third commandment. It were to be devoutly wished, that it were written in the heart by the Spirit of the Lord. Then should we not have so much occasion to lament the profanation of it, as we now have, by the rash use of the tremendous name of the Lord in ordinary discourse; anti in the solemn appeal that is too often made to it, m oaths and the like, without a just occasion. Reader! let me beg of you to pause over the perusal of this commandment; then look into the world; and then... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Exodus 20:3

Before me , or in my presence. I shall not be content to be adored with idols. (Calmet) read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Exodus 20:4

A graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing, &c. All such images or likenesses, are forbidden by this commandment, as are made to be adored and served; according to that which immediately follows, thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them. That is, all such as are designed for idols or image gods, or are worshipped with divine honour. But otherwise images, pictures, or representations, even in the house of God, and in the very sanctuary, so far from being forbidden are expressly... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Exodus 20:5

Adore. Protestants translate again, with the same view, as in the preceding verse, "thou shalt not bow down thyself to them," in condemnation of Catholics, who kneel before the cross. But do not they kneel, when they receive their sacramental bread, or when they ask for their parents' blessing? Did not St. John, and other saints, bow down out of respect to angels? And were these all idolaters! We are forbidden, therefore, to shew any respect to strange gods. But we must honour the true God in... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Exodus 20:7

In vain. On trifling occasions, rashly, or falsely. "Those who swear often, diminish their credit among the wise." (Philo) read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 20:3-11

3-11 The first four of the ten commandments, commonly called the FIRST table, tell our duty to God. It was fit that those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love, before he had a neighbour to love. It cannot be expected that he should be true to his brother, who is false to his God. The first commandment concerns the object of worship, JEHOVAH, and him only. The worship of creatures is here forbidden. Whatever comes short of perfect love, gratitude, reverence, or worship, breaks... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Exodus 20:1-11

The Decalogue v. l. And God spake all these words, saying, v. 2. I am the Lord, thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. That was the Lord's solemn introduction to the legislation on Mount Sinai, a reminder of the wonderful deliverance which He had wrought when He led forth His people out of the land of Egypt, where they had virtually been slaves. Note that the Decalog, as here given, was intended for the children of Israel and applied its... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Exodus 20:1-21

SECOND SECTIONThe Threefold Law of the Covenant for the Covenant People on the Basis of the Prophetic, Ethico-religious Divine Law of the Ten Commandments. Historical ProphecyExodus 20-31a.—The ten words, or the ethical law; and the terrified people, or the rise of the need of sacrificial ritesExodus 20:1-211, 2And God spake all these words, saying, I am Jehovah thy God, which [who] have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3Thou shalt have no other gods before me... read more

Alexander MacLaren

Alexander MacLaren's Expositions of Holy Scripture - Exodus 20:1-11

Exodus THE DECALOGUE: I-MAN AND GOD Exo_20:1 - - Exo_20:11 . An obscure tribe of Egyptian slaves plunges into the desert to hide from pursuit, and emerges, after forty years, with a code gathered into ‘ten words,’ so brief, so complete, so intertwining morality and religion, so free from local or national peculiarities, so close fitting to fundamental duties, that it is to-day, after more than three thousand years, authoritative in the most enlightened peoples. The voice that spoke from... read more

Frederick Brotherton Meyer

F.B. Meyer's 'Through the Bible' Commentary - Exodus 20:1-17

the “Ten Words” Spoken at Sinai Exodus 20:1-17 The Law was given by the disposition of angels, through the medium of Moses. See John 1:17 ; Acts 7:53 . It tells us, not what God is, for that is only shown in Jesus Christ, but what man should be. It combines in a concise form that moral code which is part of the nature of things, and is written on man’s conscience. See Romans 2:5 . Even the Fourth Commandment is deeply graven on our physical nature. These laws are mostly negative, but their... read more

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