Deuteronomy 5:6-16

6 I am Jehovah thy God who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

7 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

8 Thou shalt not make thyself any graven image, any form of what is in the heavens above, or what is in the earth beneath, or what is in the waters under the earth:

9 thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, Jehovah thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, and upon the third and upon the fourth [generation] of them that hate me,

10 and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

11 Thou shalt not idly utter the name of Jehovah thy God; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that idly uttereth his name.

12 Keep the sabbath day to hallow it, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee.

13 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work;

14 but the seventh day is the sabbath of Jehovah thy God: thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy bondman, nor thy handmaid, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy sojourner that is within thy gates; that thy bondman and thy handmaid may rest as well as thou.

15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God brought thee out thence with a powerful hand and with a stretched-out arm; therefore Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee to observe the sabbath day.

16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.

Deuteronomy 5:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 5

In this chapter Moses, after a short preface, De 5:1-5, repeats the law of the decalogue, or ten commands, with some little variation, De 5:6-21, and then reminds the Israelites of the terrible manner in which it was delivered to them, De 5:22,23 which put them upon making a request that Moses might be a mediator between God and them, and hear what the Lord had to say, and report it to them; to which they promised obedience, De 5:24-27 and which being agreeable to the Lord was granted, De 5:28-31, and this laid them under a greater obligation to observe the commands of God, and keep them, De 5:32,33.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit. 'bondmen:' so chs. 6.12; 7.8; 8.14; and elsewhere frequently.
• [b]. Or 'children.'
• [c]. Chesed, 'loving-kindness;' it is the same in ch 7.9,12 (not ch. 7.2), Ex. 20.6, &c. See Note, 2Chron. 6.42.
• [d]. Or 'for an untruth;' so Ex. 20.7: see Lev. 19.12.
• [e]. Or 'stranger,' Lev. 20.2.