Exodus 20:4

+ 20:4. Ex 20:4; Deut 5:8-10 (Ex 20:3-6) (#2a.61): Not to make a graven image nor to have one made for yourself by another “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

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In The King James Version

Thou 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:

In Context

3+ 20:3. Ex 20:3; Deut 5:7 (Deut 5:6-7) (#2a.60): T. Not to recognize, bow down to, nor serve the deities of others in My Presence / R. Not to entertain the thought that there is any god but Adonai R. Note: Jewish culture on karet ·to cut off·. Karet is God’s prerogative to be used in special cases only. This applies the capitol punishment ( karet ·to be cut off·) to all generations alive at the time of the crime. This punishment is not a curse on the family, but it does put a close on the family linage (see D. Freedman, The Nine Commandments, p106-107) “You shall have no other elohim ·deities, judges· before me.

5+ 20:5. Ex 20:5; Deut 5:9 (Ex 20:5-6; Deut 5:8-10) (#2b.92): T. Not to bow down to an object of idolatry, even if that is its normal way of worship / R. Not to worship idols in the four ways we worship God, which are: 1. Ritually slaying a sacrifice 2. Burning a ritual substance on an altar 3. Pouring a libation ·of wine· 4. Prostrating oneself you shall not hawa ·bow low, prostrate· yourself down to them, + 20:5. Ex 20:5; Deut 5:9 (#2b.93): T. Not to worship or serve carved images / R. Not to worship an object of idolatry in its normal ways of worship Consider: Serving other deities is an act of disloyalty and infidelity, one that God considers like adultery and treats with marital jealousy nor abad ·serve· them, for I, Yahweh [He sustains breathing] your God, am El Kana' [Jealous God], visiting the depravity (moral evil) of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Read all of Exodus 20

Cross References

Exodus 32:1When the people saw that Moses [Drawn out] delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron [Light-bringer], and said to him, “Come, make us deities, which shall lead us; for this Moses [Drawn out], the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt [Abode of slavery], we don’t know what has become of him.” + 32:1. Quoted in Acts 7:40

Exodus 32:8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I enjoined them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your deities, Israel [God prevails], which brought you up out of the land of Egypt [Abode of slavery].’”

Exodus 34:17“You shall make no molten elohim ·deities· for yourselves.

Leviticus 26:1+ 26:1. Lev 26:1 (#2a.72): T. Not to set up a stone as an idol for worship / R. Not to bow down to a smooth, figured stone “‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up an engraved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to hawa ·bow low, prostrate· to it; for I am Adonai your God.

Deuteronomy 4:16lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Deuteronomy 4:25When you shall father children, and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in Adonai your God’s sight, to provoke him to anger;

Matthew Henry on Exodus 20:2-12

The Ten Commandments. ( b. c. 1491.) 1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou 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: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Exodus 20:4