Exodus 20:12-22

12 ¹“Honor your father and your mother, ²that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 ³“You shall not murder. ^[a]

14 ⁴“You shall not commit adultery.

15 ⁵“You shall not steal.

16 ⁶“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 ⁷“You shall not covet ⁸your neighbor’s house; ⁹you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. ”

18 Now when all the people saw ¹⁰the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[b] and trembled, and they stood far off

19 and said to Moses, ¹¹“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die. ”

20 ¹²Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ¹³test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. ”

21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the ¹⁴thick darkness where God was.

Laws About Altars

22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have ¹⁵talked with you from heaven.

Exodus 20:12-22 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.

Cross References

• 1. 20:12 Lev. 19:3; Cited Matt. 15:4; 19:19; Mark 7:10; 10:19; Luke 18:20; Eph. 6:2; [Jer. 35:18, 19]
• 2. 20:12 Eph. 6:3
• 3. 20:13 Cited Matt. 5:21; 19:18; Rom. 13:9; [Gen. 9:5, 6; 1 John 3:15]
• 4. 20:14 Lev. 18:20; Deut. 22:22; Prov. 6:32; 1 Cor. 6:9; Heb. 13:4; Cited Matt. 5:27; Rom. 13:9
• 5. 20:15 Lev. 19:11; Eph. 4:28; Cited Matt. 19:18; Rom. 13:9
• 6. 20:16 ch. 23:1; Prov. 19:5, 9; 21:28; 24:28; 25:18; Cited Matt. 19:18; See Deut. 19:16-20
• 7. 20:17 Luke 12:15; Eph. 5:3, 5; Cited Rom. 7:7; 13:9; [Col. 3:5; Heb. 13:5]
• 8. 20:17 Mic. 2:2
• 9. 20:17 Jer. 5:8; Matt. 5:28
• 10. 20:18 Heb. 12:18
• 11. 20:19 Deut. 5:25, 27; 18:16; Gal. 3:19, 20; Heb. 12:19
• 12. 20:20 [1 Sam. 12:20]
• 13. 20:20 [Gen. 22:1]; Deut. 13:3
• 14. 20:21 Deut. 4:11; 2 Sam. 22:10; 1 Kgs. 8:12; Ps. 18:9; 97:2
• 15. 20:22 Deut. 4:36; Neh. 9:13; Heb. 12:25

Footnotes

• [a] 20:13 The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence
• [b] 20:18 Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text 'the people saw'