Exodus 20:3

The Ten Commandments

1 And God spoke ^aall these words, saying:

2 ^a“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ^bout of the house of bondage.

3 ^a“You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 ^a“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

5 ^ayou shall not bow down to them nor¹ serve them. ^bFor I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, ^cvisiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

6 but ^ashowing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 ^a“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord ^bwill not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

8 ^a“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 ^aSix days you shall labor and do all your work,

10 but the ^aseventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, ^bnor your stranger who is within your gates.

11 For ^ain six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

12 ^a“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be ^blong upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 ^a“You shall not murder.

14 ^a“You shall not commit ^badultery.

15 ^a“You shall not steal.

16 ^a“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 ^a“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; ^byou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

18 Now ^aall the people ^bwitnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain ^csmoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

19 Then they said to Moses, ^a“You speak with us, and we will hear; but ^blet not God speak with us, lest we die.”

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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Exodus 20:3

Thou shalt have no other gods before me - elohim acherim , no strange gods - none that thou art not acquainted with, none who has not given thee such proofs of his power and godhead as I have done in delivering thee from the Egyptians, dividing the Red Sea, bringing water out of the rock, quails into the desert, manna from heaven to feed thee, and the pillar of cloud to direct, enlighten, and shield thee. By these miracles God had rendered himself familiar to them, they were intimately acquainted with the operation of his hands; and therefore with great propriety he says, Thou shalt have no strange gods before me; al panai , before or in the place of those manifestations which I have made of myself.

This commandment prohibits every species of mental idolatry, and all inordinate attachment to earthly and sensible things. As God is the fountain of happiness, and no intelligent creature can be happy but through him, whoever seeks happiness in the creature is necessarily an idolater; as he puts the creature in the place of the Creator, expecting that from the gratification of his passions, in the use or abuse of earthly things, which is to be found in God alone. The very first commandment of the whole series is divinely calculated to prevent man' s misery and promote his happiness, by taking him off from all false dependence, and leading him to God himself, the fountain of all good.

**Other Adam Clarke entries containing Exodus 20:3:**

Exodus 20:23

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Exodus 20:4 >>

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The Ten Commandments

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

Exodus 20:3

Other Adam Clarke entries containing Exodus 20:3:

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

**Other Adam Clarke entries containing Exodus 20:3:**

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning