Exodus 20:9-19

9 You are to labor six days and do all your work,

10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work-you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates.

11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.^[a]

13 Do not murder.^[b]

14 Do not commit adultery.^[c]

15 Do not steal.

16 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.^[d]

17 Do not covet your neighbor's house. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.^{[e] [f]}

The People's Reaction

18 All the people witnessed^[g] the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain [surrounded by] smoke. When the people saw [it]^[h] they trembled and stood at a distance.

19 "You speak to us, and we will listen," they said to Moses, "but don't let God speak to us, or we will die."

Exodus 20:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 20

In this chapter we have an account of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; the preface to it, Ex 20:1,2, the ten commandments it consists of, Ex 20:8-17, the circumstances attending it, which caused the people to remove at some distance, Ex 20:18, when they desired of Moses, that he would speak to them and not God, who bid them not fear, since this was for the trial of them; but still they kept at a distance, while Moses drew nigh to God, Ex 20:19-21 who ordered him to caution the children of Israel against idolatry, and directed what sort of an altar he would have made whereon to offer their sacrifices, promising that where his name was recorded he would grant his presence and blessing, Ex 20:22-26.

Footnotes

• [a]. Mt 15:4; Mk 7:10; Eph 6:2-3
• [b]. Mt 5:21
• [c]. Mt 5:27; Jms 2:11
• [d]. Pr 25:18
• [e]. Rm 7:7
• [f]. Mt 19:18-19; Mk 10:19; Lk 18:20; Rm 13:9
• [g]. Lit saw
• [h]. Sam, LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read smoking; the people (or they) were afraid