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Exodus 20

KJV · Chapter 20/40

1And God spake all these words, saying,

2I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or 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:

5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

7Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

13Thou shalt not kill.

14Thou shalt not commit adultery.

15Thou shalt not steal.

16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

18And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

19And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

20And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

22And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

23Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

24An 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 all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

25And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

26Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

📖 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. Exodus 20:1Introduces God’s direct address to the people, opening the Ten Commandments, considered the core of the law given at Sinai.
  2. Exodus 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. Exodus 20:3The first commandment demands exclusivity: no other god may be placed beside or above the God of Israel.
  4. Exodus 20:4Forbids making any carved image to represent God or any other deity, going against a common practice among Israel’s neighboring peoples.
  5. Exodus 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. Exodus 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. Exodus 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. Exodus 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. Exodus 20:9Establishes the weekly work pattern: six days devoted to ordinary tasks before the day of rest on the seventh day.
  10. Exodus 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. Exodus 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. Exodus 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. Exodus 20:13One of the shortest and most direct commandments: it forbids taking another person’s life.
  14. Exodus 20:14Forbids unfaithfulness within marriage, one of the central rules organizing family life in Israel.
  15. Exodus 20:15Forbids taking possession of what belongs to another person without consent.
  16. Exodus 20:16Forbids lying about another person, especially in legal settings, where false testimony could change the outcome of a trial.
  17. Exodus 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. Exodus 20:18After hearing the commandments, the people react with fear at the phenomena accompanying God’s presence, drawing back from the mountain.
  19. Exodus 20:19The people ask Moses to serve as a go-between with God, afraid that hearing God directly could be fatal.
  20. Exodus 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. Exodus 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. Exodus 20:22God reinforces that the people themselves witnessed the communication coming directly from heaven, validating the authority of the laws now being given.
  23. Exodus 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. Exodus 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. Exodus 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. Exodus 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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