Exodus 23:13

13 Keep ye all things, which I [have] said to you; and ye shall not swear by the name of alien gods, neither it shall be heard of your mouth. (Hold ye onto all the things, that I have said to you; and ye shall not swear in the name of foreign, or other, gods, nor shall it be heard coming out of your mouths.)

Exodus 23:13 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 23:13

And in all [things] that I have said unto you, be circumspect,
&c.] Or observe them, be careful to keep them punctually and constantly, even all that are delivered in this and the preceding chapters:

and make no mention of the name of other gods;
neither call upon them, nor swear by them, nor make vows to them; and, as little as possible, ever utter their names, and never with pleasure and delight, and showing any honour of them, and reverence to them, but with the utmost detestation and abhorrence:

neither let it be heard out of thy mouth;
not any of their names; the same thing in different words, the more to inculcate and impress the thing upon the mind, and to show with what vehemence and earnestness this is pressed.

Exodus 23:13 In-Context

11 forsooth in the seventh year thou shalt leave it, and make it to rest, that the poor men of thy people eat, and whatever is left ungathered, the beasts of the field eat it; so thou shalt do in thy vinery, and in the place of thine olive trees. (but in the seventh year thou shalt let it be, and allow it to rest, and thy poor people shall get food from it, and whatever is left ungathered, the beasts of the field shall eat it; so shalt thou also do with thy vineyard, and with the place of thy olive trees.)
12 Six days thou shalt work, and in the seventh day thou shalt cease, that thine ox, and thine ass rest, and the son of thine handmaid, and the comeling be refreshed. (For six days thou shalt work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest, so that thy ox, and thy donkey, can also rest, and so that the son of thy slave-girl, and the newcomer, or the foreigner, can be refreshed.)
13 Keep ye all things, which I [have] said to you; and ye shall not swear by the name of alien gods, neither it shall be heard of your mouth. (Hold ye onto all the things, that I have said to you; and ye shall not swear in the name of foreign, or other, gods, nor shall it be heard coming out of your mouths.)
14 In three times by all years ye shall hallow feasts to me. (Three times each year ye shall dedicate Feasts to me.
15 Thou shalt keep the solemnity of therf loaves; seven days thou shalt eat therf bread, as I commanded to thee, in the time of [the] month of new things, when thou wentest out of Egypt; thou shalt not appear void in my sight. (Thou shalt keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded to thee, at the time of the month of Abib, when thou wentest out of Egypt; and thou shalt not appear before me empty-handed.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.