Exodus 20:23

Exodus 20:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
• New International Version (NIV)Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.

Context of Exodus 20:23

21So the people stood at a [safe] distance, but Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. 22Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. You shall not make other gods [to worship] besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make [these lifeless idols] for yourselves. 24You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause My Name to be recorded and remembered [through revelation of My divine nature] I will come to you and bless you. 25If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you use a chisel on it, you will profane it.

Exodus 20:23 word by word

לֹ֥א תַעֲשׂ֖וּן אִתִּ֑י אֱלֹ֤הֵי כֶ֙סֶף֙ וֵאלֹהֵ֣י זָהָ֔ב לֹ֥א תַעֲשׂ֖וּ לָכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ye shall not makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• with me godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• of silverכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
• of goldזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091

Cross-references for Exodus 20:23

• Exodus 20:3“You shall have no other gods before Me.
• Exodus 32:1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered together before Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
• 1 Samuel 5:4But when they got up early the next morning, behold, Dagon had [again] fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and his head and both palms of his hands were [lying] cut off on the threshold; only the trunk [portion] of [the idol of] Dagon was left on him.
• 2 Kings 17:33They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods, following the custom of the nations from among whom they had been sent into exile.
• Ezekiel 20:39“As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says the Lord God, “Go, let everyone serve his idols; but later you shall most certainly listen to Me, and you shall no longer profane My holy name with your gifts and with your idols.
• Ezekiel 43:8by setting their threshold by My threshold and their doorpost beside My doorpost, with [only] the wall between Me and them. They have defiled and desecrated My holy name by the vile atrocities which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger.
• Daniel 5:4They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
• Zephaniah 1:5And those who bow down and worship the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, and the stars] on their housetops And those who bow down and swear [oaths] to [and pretend to worship] the Lord and [yet also] swear by [the pagan god called] Milcom [god of the Ammonites],
• 1 Corinthians 10:21You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].
• 2 Corinthians 6:14Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
• Colossians 2:18Let no one defraud you of your prize [your freedom in Christ and your salvation] by insisting on mock humility and the worship of angels, going into detail about visions [he claims] he has seen [to justify his authority], puffed up [in conceit] by his unspiritual mind,
• 1 John 5:20And we [have seen and] know [by personal experience] that the Son of God has [actually] come [to this world], and has given us understanding and insight so that we may [progressively and personally] know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
• Revelation 22:15Outside are the dogs [the godless, the impure, those of low moral character] and the sorcerers [with their intoxicating drugs, and magic arts], and the immoral persons [the perverted, the molesters, and the adulterers], and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying (deception, cheating).

Commentaries on Exodus 20:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23Ye shall not make with me gods of silver - The expressions here are very remarkable. Before it was said, Ye shall have no other gods Before me, פני אל al panai, Exodus 20:3. Here they are commanded, ye shall not make gods of silver or gold אתי itti With me, as emblems or representatives of God, in order, as might be pretended, to keep these displays of his magnificence in memory; on the contrary, he would have only an altar of earth - of plain turf, on…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22-26Verses 22-26 Nothing could be more appropriate as the commencement of the book of the covenant than these regulations for public worship. The rules for the building of altars must have been old and accepted, and are not inconsistent with the directions for the construction of the altar of the court of the tabernacle, Exodus 27:1-8 (compare Joshua 22:26-28).Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-26Verses 22-26 Moses having entered into the thick darkness, God there spake in his hearing all that follows from hence to the end of chap. 23, which is mostly an exposition of the ten commandments. The laws in these verses relate to God's worship. The Israelites are assured of God's gracious acceptance of their devotions. Under the gospel, men are encouraged to pray every where, and wherever God's people meet in his name to worship him, he will be in the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22-26The Lord is beyond human understanding, as shown by his speaking to the people with a voice from heaven (20:22). This had two effects on their practices: They could not use silver or gold to make human-shaped gods (20:23). They could not carve stones for an altar (20:25). This might be to prevent them from carving stone gods. They must make the altar from earth and uncut stones (20:24, 25). The rule against revealing nakedness might have been to…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22-2322-23. the Lord said unto Moses--It appears from De 4:14-16, that this injunction was a conclusion drawn from the scene on Sinai--that as no similitude of God was displayed then, they should not attempt to make any visible figure or form of Him.Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 20:23

• Idolatry
• Silver

In the dictionaries

• Book
• Commit
• Covet
• Grave
• Guiltless
• Hold
• Likeness
• Remember
• Steal
• Visit

Commentaries on Exodus 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings