Exodus 20

And God spoke all these words. He said:

1And God spake all these words, saying,

NoteThe Hebrew tradition calls what follows "the ten words" (Exodus 34:28); "commandments" comes from the Greek and Latin translations. Jewish, Catholic and Protestant traditions divide these words into ten in different places, which is why numbered lists of them vary.

2"I am the LORD your God. I am the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house where you were slaves.

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

NoteLORD printed in capitals stands for the four Hebrew letters YHWH, the personal name of Israel's God. Ancient Jewish practice was to say "my Lord" instead of pronouncing it, and English translations follow that by printing the substitute word in capitals. Where you see "God" or "Lord" in ordinary type, a different Hebrew word lies behind it.

3You must not have any other gods besides me.

3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

NoteThe Hebrew reads literally "before my face." It can mean "in preference to me," "in addition to me," or "in my presence," and translators disagree about which. The old "before me" is easily misread as only "ahead of me in rank," which is narrower than the Hebrew.

4You must not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth.

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:

NoteA carved image (Hebrew pesel) is a figure cut from wood or stone, or cast in metal, the ordinary equipment of worship in Egypt, Canaan and Mesopotamia, where a god was thought to be present in its statue. "The heavens above, the earth below, the waters under the earth" is the standard ancient description of the whole world in three layers; the phrase means "anything anywhere."

5You must not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. I punish the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, down to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

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;

Note"Jealous" here translates a Hebrew word used of a husband's exclusive claim on a wife; it is not the English sense of envying someone else's possessions. The verb rendered "punish" is literally "visit", to come and deal with. An ordinary household of the period held three or four generations under one roof, so "third and fourth generation" describes everyone alive in a family at one time, not a distant future.

6and I show mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

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

NoteThe Hebrew word for "thousands" is ambiguous: it can mean thousands of people or a thousand generations, and Deuteronomy 7:9 takes it the second way. Either reading sets a very large number against the "third and fourth generation" of the previous verse.

7You must not use the name of the LORD your God in an empty way, for the LORD will not treat as innocent anyone who uses his name in an empty way.

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.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "in vain" or "in an empty way" means empty, worthless or false. The phrase covers swearing an oath in God's name that you do not mean to keep, as well as using the name for a lie or for nothing. Oaths sworn by the divine name were the ordinary way of guaranteeing testimony and contracts, so this had legal weight, not only conversational.

8Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.

8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

NoteThe Hebrew word Sabbath comes from a root meaning "to stop" or "cease." It is the seventh day of the week, reckoned from sunset to sunset. "Holy" translates a word meaning set apart from ordinary use for God, not "morally pure."

9You are to work six days and do everything you have to do,

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

10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On that day you must not do any work, not you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your animals, or the foreigner who is inside your gates.

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:

Note"Inside your gates" means inside your town, a walled settlement was identified by its gate. The word translated "foreigner" (ger) means a resident outsider who lived permanently among Israelites but held no inherited family land, and so depended on the household he worked for.

11For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, and he rested on the seventh day. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

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.

12Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

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

NoteThe Hebrew verb translated "honor" means literally "to give weight to." In practice it covered obeying parents while young and providing for them materially in old age, at a time when there was no other support for the elderly.

13You must not murder.

13Thou shalt not kill.

NoteThe Hebrew verb here (ratsach) covers unlawful killing of a person, murder, and killing through negligence. It is not the general word for killing, and is not used in the Hebrew Bible of killing in war, of judicial executions, or of slaughtering animals. The King James "kill" is broader than the original.

14You must not commit adultery.

14Thou shalt not commit adultery.

NoteThe Hebrew word refers to sexual relations between a man and another man's wife or betrothed. In Israelite law the offense was defined by the woman's marital status and was treated as a wrong against her husband and his household line.

15You must not steal.

15Thou shalt not steal.

16You must not give false testimony against your neighbor.

16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

NoteThis is courtroom language. Cases were heard by the elders at the town gate and decided on the word of witnesses, with no police or investigators; a witness who lied could cost a neighbor his property, his freedom or his life. "Neighbor" means a fellow member of the community, not simply the person living next door.

17You must not long to have your neighbor's house. You must not long to have your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything at all that belongs to your neighbor."

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.

NoteThe Hebrew verb means a desire that reaches out toward taking, not a passing wish. The list (house, wife, servants, working animals) is the standard inventory of a household's assets; "house" at the start may mean the household as a whole, with the rest spelling out what it contains.

18And all the people saw the thunder, and the lightning, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they drew back and stood far away.

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.

Note"Saw the thunder" is literal Hebrew: the verb covers perceiving by any sense, so it means the people witnessed all of this. The "trumpet" is the shofar, a ram's horn blown as a signal in war and at assemblies, not a metal instrument.

19They said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen. But do not let God speak to us, or we will die."

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

20Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, and so that the fear of him will be in front of your faces, to keep you from sinning."

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.

NoteThe Hebrew uses the same root twice: do not be terrified, yet keep the fear of God before you. The second sense is closer to awe or dread that governs behavior. "Test" means to put to the proof, to find out what someone will do.

21So the people stood far away, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.

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

Note"Thick darkness" translates a specific Hebrew word for a dense storm cloud, used elsewhere of the cloud in which God appears.

22And the LORD said to Moses, "This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.

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.

23You must not make gods of silver to stand beside me, and you must not make gods of gold for yourselves.

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

NoteThe Hebrew "with me" is ambiguous. It may forbid making images of other gods to stand alongside the LORD, or it may forbid making images of the LORD himself out of silver and gold. Translators divide on which.

24You are to make me an altar of earth, and on it you are to sacrifice your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

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.

NoteAn altar is a raised platform on which animals and food were burned as gifts to a god; every ancient religion had them, and the instruction here is about how Israel's should be built. A burnt offering was consumed entirely by fire on the altar. A peace offering (or fellowship offering) had only part burned; the rest was eaten as a shared meal by the worshiper and his household. "Where I cause my name to be remembered" refers to a place God designates as one where he may be approached.

25And if you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it out of cut stone, because if you lift your tool on it, you have made it unclean.

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.

Note"Cut stone" means blocks squared and dressed with an iron chisel, the technique used for temples elsewhere in the region. "Unclean" here translates a word meaning made common or profane, unfit for sacred use, rather than dirty.

26And you must not go up to my altar on steps, so that your naked body is not uncovered on it.'"

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

NoteMen of this period wore a long robe or a wrapped garment with nothing underneath. Climbing steps above people standing at the foot of the altar would expose the body. Exodus 28:42 later requires priests to wear linen undergarments for the same reason.