Search for commentaries – Exodus 20

Exodus 20:1 – 20:3
At Mt. Sinai, 150 miles from Egypt, Israel was officially declared a people governed by God, regulated by His will and set apart to glorify Him. The people had escaped from Egypt two months before (19:1). They were now to spend eleven months in the vicinity of Mt. Sinai (Numbers …

Exodus 20:4 – 20:6
The Israelites had just come from Egypt, a land of many idols and many gods. Now they were forbidden from worshiping idols (v. 3) and from making any graven image (v. 4). “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (v. 4). The first commandment points out that God …

Exodus 20:7 – 20:7
The third commandment is “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (v. 7). The name of God must be honored and not used irreverently or needlessly. God is holy and reverence must characterize all of our speech in which His name is mentioned. The Israeli …

Exodus 20:8 – 20:11
The Sabbath was a day set aside for rest and worship. God commanded a Sabbath because human beings need to spend unhurried time in worship and rest each week. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (v. 8). The basis for this commandment is the creation when God cre …

Exodus 20:12 – 20:12
The first four commandments dealt with our duty to God and now the final six show our proper relationship with man. All of the commandments include a negative except the fourth and the fifth (this one). So don’t let anyone convince you that we should never speak out on negatives. …

Exodus 20:13 – 20:13
“Thou shalt not kill” (v. 13). In this sixth commandment God emphasizes the sacredness of human life and His own sovereignty over it. He alone has the right to say when it shall end. This means that a person is not to take his own life as well as to murder someone else. …

Exodus 20:14 – 20:14
The marriage relationship is the highest and most sacred of human relations. It takes priority over every other human obligation. This relationship between a husband and wife was instituted in the garden of Eden - “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall …

Exodus 20:15 – 20:15
The seventh commandment is “Thou shalt not steal” (v. 15). Stealing is the illegal taking of another person’s property without that person freely-giving consent. Parents are often woefully lax in their condemnation and punishment of stealing. The child may begin by just …

Exodus 20:16 – 20:16
We should be honest in our private dealings as well as in our public statements. In either situation we “bear false witness” by leaving something out of a story, telling a half truth or twisting the facts. Probably there is not one of these Ten Commandments more often a …

Exodus 20:17 – 20:17
To covet is to wish to have the possessions of others. “Thou shalt not covet” (v. 17). This commandment differs from the other nine in that while they prohibit the act this one condemns the very desire to act. It reveals to us the hidden depths of our sinful nature. It …

Exodus 20:18 – 20:26
In this passage we find Israel acknowledging that they are unable to deal with God directly and needed a mediator which was Moses (vv. 18-21). The people that gathered before the mountain were full of fear and awe (Exodus 19:16). They wanted to hear from God through Moses and not …