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Êxodo 20

BLIVRE · Chapter 20/40

1E falou Deus todas estas palavras, dizendo:

2Eu sou o SENHOR teu Deus, que te tirei da terra do Egito, de casa de servos.

3Não terás deuses alheios diante de mim.

4Não te farás imagem, nem nenhuma semelhança de coisa que esteja acima no céu, nem abaixo na terra, nem nas águas debaixo da terra:

5Não te inclinarás a elas, nem as honrarás; porque eu sou o SENHOR teu Deus, forte, zeloso, que visito a maldade dos pais sobre os filhos, sobre os terceiros e sobre os quartos, aos que me aborrecem,

6E que faço misericórdia em milhares aos que me amam, e guardam meus mandamentos.

7Não tomarás o nome do SENHOR teu Deus em vão; porque não dará por inocente o SENHOR ao que tomar seu nome em vão.

8Tu te lembrarás do dia do repouso, para santificá-lo:

9Seis dias trabalharás, e farás toda tua obra;

10Mas o sétimo dia será repouso para o SENHOR teu Deus: não faças nele obra alguma, tu, nem teu filho, nem tua filha, nem teu servo, nem tua criada, nem teu animal, nem teu estrangeiro que está dentro de tuas portas:

11Porque em seis dias fez o SENHOR os céus e a terra, o mar e todas as coisas que neles há, e repousou no sétimo dia: portanto o SENHOR abençoou o dia do repouso e o santificou.

12Honra a teu pai e a tua mãe, para que teus dias se alarguem na terra que o SENHOR teu Deus te dá.

13Não cometerás homicídio.

14Não cometerás adultério.

15Não furtarás.

16Não falarás contra teu próximo falso testemunho.

17Não cobiçarás a casa de teu próximo, não cobiçarás a mulher de teu próximo, nem seu servo, nem sua criada, nem seu boi, nem seu asno, nem coisa alguma de teu próximo.

18Todo o povo considerava as vozes, e as chamas, e o som da trombeta, e o monte que fumegava: e vendo-o o povo, tremeram, e puseram-se de longe.

19E disseram a Moisés: Fala tu conosco, que nós ouviremos; mas não fale Deus conosco, para que não morramos.

20E Moisés respondeu ao povo: Não temais; que para provar-vos veio Deus, e para que seu temor esteja em vossa presença para que não pequeis.

21Então o povo se pôs de longe, e Moisés se chegou à escuridão na qual estava Deus.

22E o SENHOR disse a Moisés: Assim dirás aos filhos de Israel: Vós vistes que falei desde o céu convosco.

23Não façais comigo deuses de prata, nem deuses de ouro vos fareis.

24Da terra farás altar para mim, e sacrificarás sobre ele teus holocaustos e tuas ofertas pacíficas, tuas ovelhas e tuas vacas: em qualquer lugar onde eu fizer que esteja a memória de meu nome, virei a ti, e te abençoarei.

25E se me fizeres altar de pedras, não as faças lavradas; porque se levantares teu buril sobre ele, tu o profanarás.

26E não subirás por degraus a meu altar, para que tua nudez não seja junto a ele descoberta.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God gives the Ten Commandments directly to the people of Israel, establishing foundational principles for their relationship with God and with one another; the people, frightened by the divine manifestation, ask that Moses be their intermediary.

Explanation

This is one of the most influential chapters in all of human history: the Ten Commandments establish an ethical and spiritual foundation that would shape not only Israel but entire civilizations in the centuries that followed. The first commandments deal with the vertical relationship with God (exclusive worship, the prohibition of images, the reverent use of the divine name, keeping the Sabbath), while the last ones deal with horizontal relationships between people (honoring parents, and prohibitions against murder, adultery, theft, lying, and coveting) — showing that biblical ethics always connects love for God with love for one's neighbor. The people's fear at the divine manifestation, asking that God not speak to them directly ('Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die', v. 19), reveals both genuine reverence and an awareness that God's holiness is more intense than they can bear directly, cementing Moses' role as mediator between God and the people.

Fun facts

  • The Ten Commandments are repeated, with minor variations, in Deuteronomy 5, and throughout history have been the basis of legal and ethical systems in many Western cultures, frequently cited in courts of law and legal documents into the modern era.
  • The chapter's final instruction, against using metal tools to shape the stones of the altar (v. 25), reflects a concern that worship of God remain simple and uncorrupted by human pride in art or technology — a principle that contrasts with the elaborate ornamentation later required for the tabernacle itself.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 20:1Introduces God’s direct address to the people, opening the Ten Commandments, considered the core of the law given at Sinai.
  2. Êxodo 20:2Before any commandment, God identifies Himself by the concrete act He has already done: bringing the people out of slavery in Egypt, the historical foundation of the whole covenant.
  3. Êxodo 20:3The first commandment demands exclusivity: no other god may be placed beside or above the God of Israel.
  4. Êxodo 20:4Forbids making any carved image to represent God or any other deity, going against a common practice among Israel’s neighboring peoples.
  5. Êxodo 20:5“Visiting the iniquity” of the parents on the children to the third and fourth generation does not mean God punishes a child for the parent’s sin. In practice, as described in the Bible, one generation tends to repeat the same choices and habits of the one before it within a family — the text describes that recurring consequence more than a directly inherited punishment.
  6. Êxodo 20:6In contrast with the limited reach of the punishment in the previous verse, God’s mercy is described as far broader, extending to thousands of generations of those who love Him.
  7. Êxodo 20:7The ban on using God’s name “in vain” was more about swearing falsely or lending weight to a lie by invoking the divine name than about saying “God” as an everyday exclamation. The core idea is not to turn God’s name into a tool for manipulation or deceit.
  8. Êxodo 20:8The fourth commandment deals with the Sabbath, picking up the practice already introduced in practical form in chapter 16, even before it became formal law here.
  9. Êxodo 20:9Establishes the weekly work pattern: six days devoted to ordinary tasks before the day of rest on the seventh day.
  10. Êxodo 20:10The Sabbath commandment explicitly includes even the foreigners and the working animals living in the household. Rest was not a privilege reserved for the Israelite family alone, but extended to everyone under that roof, including those who were not part of the people.
  11. Êxodo 20:11Ties Sabbath rest directly to the account of creation in Genesis, in which God likewise rested on the seventh day after six days of work.
  12. Êxodo 20:12The fifth commandment is the first directed at human relationships, tying the honoring of parents to a promise of long life in the promised land.
  13. Êxodo 20:13One of the shortest and most direct commandments: it forbids taking another person’s life.
  14. Êxodo 20:14Forbids unfaithfulness within marriage, one of the central rules organizing family life in Israel.
  15. Êxodo 20:15Forbids taking possession of what belongs to another person without consent.
  16. Êxodo 20:16Forbids lying about another person, especially in legal settings, where false testimony could change the outcome of a trial.
  17. Êxodo 20:17Desiring what belongs to your neighbor — the house, the wife, the possessions — is different from simply admiring what someone else has: it is desire that already aims at how to take it for oneself. It is the only one of the Ten Commandments dealing with an inner feeling rather than a visible action, which is why it is the hardest to spot from the outside.
  18. Êxodo 20:18After hearing the commandments, the people react with fear at the phenomena accompanying God’s presence, drawing back from the mountain.
  19. Êxodo 20:19The people ask Moses to serve as a go-between with God, afraid that hearing God directly could be fatal.
  20. Êxodo 20:20Moses explains that the purpose behind that overwhelming display was to test the people and instill a healthy fear that would keep them from sin.
  21. Êxodo 20:21While the people stay at a distance, Moses draws near the thick darkness where God was, a contrast that marks his unique role as mediator.
  22. Êxodo 20:22God reinforces that the people themselves witnessed the communication coming directly from heaven, validating the authority of the laws now being given.
  23. Êxodo 20:23Repeats the ban on other gods, this time specifically calling out idols made of silver or gold, valuable materials used in religious images.
  24. Êxodo 20:24Gives the first practical instruction about worship after the Ten Commandments: a simple altar of earth, tied to the promise of blessing wherever God’s name is remembered.
  25. Êxodo 20:25The ban on using hewn stones, that is, stones cut and polished with tools, on the altar kept it from becoming a piece of decorated sculpture, similar to the ornamented altars of other peoples with carved religious images. The altar had to be simple, made of earth or rough stone, so attention stayed on the sacrifice, not on the craftsmanship itself.
  26. Êxodo 20:26Forbids going up to the altar by steps, to avoid improper exposure of the priest’s body during the ritual, a practical concern repeated later in the book.

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