English Standard Version
Exodus 20:3
3"You shall have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3 in other versions
Context of Exodus 20:3
1And God spoke all these words, saying, 2"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. 4"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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. 5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
Read all of Exodus 20Exodus 20:3 word by word
לֹֽ֣א יִהְיֶֽה־לְךָ֛֩ אֱלֹהִ֥֨ים אֲחֵרִ֖֜ים עַל־פָּנָֽ֗יַ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 20:3
- Exodus 15:11"Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
- Deuteronomy 5:7"'You shall have no other gods before me.
- Deuteronomy 6:5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
- Joshua 24:18And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God."
- 2 Kings 17:29But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.
- Psalms 29:2Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
- Psalms 73:25Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
- Psalms 81:9There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
- Isaiah 26:4Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
- Isaiah 43:10"You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
- Isaiah 44:8Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any."
- Isaiah 45:21Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.
- Isaiah 46:9remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
- Jeremiah 25:6Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.'
- Jeremiah 35:15I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, 'Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.' But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.
- Matthew 4:10Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
Commentaries on Exodus 20:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Thou shalt have no other gods before me - אחרים אלהים 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-17Verses 1-17 The Hebrew name which is rendered in our King James Version as the ten commandments occurs in Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 10:4. It literally means “the Ten Words.” The Ten Commandments are also called the law, even the commandment Exodus 24:12, the words of the covenant Exodus 34:28, the tables of the covenant Deuteronomy 9:9, the covenant Deuteronomy 4:13, the two tables Deuteronomy 9:10, Deuteronomy 9:17, and, most…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-11Verses 3-11 The first four of the ten commandments, commonly called the FIRST table, tell our duty to God. It was fit that those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love, before he had a neighbour to love. It cannot be expected that he should be true to his brother, who is false to his God. The first commandment concerns the object of worship, JEHOVAH, and him only. The worship of creatures is here forbidden. Whatever comes short of perfect…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3Not recognizing any other god is the first step toward learning the truth that there are no other gods besides the Lord (see Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:4; Isaiah 43:10–11; 45:21–22).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Thou shalt have no other gods before me--in My presence, beside, or except Me.Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 20:3
In the dictionaries
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
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