Exo 20:2-3 | KD | STEP | The Ten Words commenced with a declaration of Jehovah concerning Himself, which served as a practical basis for the obligation on the part of the people to keep the commandments: “ I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee,” etc. By bringing them out of Egypt, the house of bondage, Jehovah had proved to the Israelites that He was their God. This glorious act, to which Israel owed its existence as an independent nation, was peculiarly fitted, as a distinct and practical manifestation of unmerited divine love, to kindle in the hearts of the people the warmest love in return, and to incite them to keep the commandments. These words are not to be regarded, as Knobel supposes, as either a confession, or the foundation of the whole of the theocratical law, just as Saleucus , Plato , and other lawgivers placed a belief in the existence of the gods at the head of their laws. They were rather the preamble, as Calvin says, by which God prepared the minds of the people for obeying them, and in this sense they were frequently repeated to give emphasis to other laws, sometimes in full, as in ; ; ; , ; , etc., sometimes in the abridged form, “I am Jehovah your God,” as in ; , , ; , , , , ; , etc., for which the simple expression, “I am Jehovah,” is now and then substituted, as in , , , etc.

‏ Exodus 20:2-3

The Ten Words commenced with a declaration of Jehovah concerning Himself, which served as a practical basis for the obligation on the part of the people to keep the commandments: “I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee,” etc. By bringing them out of Egypt, the house of bondage, Jehovah had proved to the Israelites that He was their God. This glorious act, to which Israel owed its existence as an independent nation, was peculiarly fitted, as a distinct and practical manifestation of unmerited divine love, to kindle in the hearts of the people the warmest love in return, and to incite them to keep the commandments. These words are not to be regarded, as Knobel supposes, as either a confession, or the foundation of the whole of the theocratical law, just as Saleucus, Plato, and other lawgivers placed a belief in the existence of the gods at the head of their laws. They were rather the preamble, as Calvin says, by which God prepared the minds of the people for obeying them, and in this sense they were frequently repeated to give emphasis to other laws, sometimes in full, as in Exo 29:46; Lev 19:36; Lev 23:43; Lev 25:38, Lev 25:55; Lev 26:13, etc., sometimes in the abridged form, “I am Jehovah your God,” as in Lev 11:44; Lev 18:2, Lev 18:4, Lev 18:30; Lev 19:4, Lev 19:10, Lev 19:25, Lev 19:31, Lev 19:34; Lev 20:7, etc., for which the simple expression, “I am Jehovah,” is now and then substituted, as in Lev 19:12-13, Lev 19:16, Lev 19:18, etc. Exo 20:3

The First Word. - “Let there not be to thee (thou shalt have no) other gods פּני על פּן,” lit., beyond Me (על as in Gen 48:22; Psa 16:2), or in addition to Me (על as in Gen 31:50; Deu 19:9), equivalent to πλὴν ἐμοῦ (lxx), “by the side of Me” (Luther). “Before Me,” coram me (Vulg., etc.), is incorrect; also against Me, in opposition to Me. (On פּני see Exo 33:14.) The singular יהיה does not require that we should regard Elohim as an abstract noun in the sense of Deity; and the plural אחרים would not suit this rendering (see Gen 1:14). The sentence is quite a general one, and not only prohibits polytheism and idolatry, the worship of idols in thought, word, and deed (cf. Deu 8:11, Deu 8:17, Deu 8:19), but also commands the fear, love, and worship of God the Lord (cf. Deu 6:5, Deu 6:13, Deu 6:17; Deu 10:12, Deu 10:20). Nearly all the commandments are couched in the negative form of prohibition, because they presuppose the existence of sin and evil desires in the human heart.