Exodus 34:14

14 do not thou worship an alien God; a jealous lover is the Lord's name, God is a fervent lover; (do not thou worship any foreign, or any other, god; for the Lord's name is Jealous, and he is a jealous God;)

Exodus 34:14 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 34:14

For thou shall worship no other god
Than the Lord their God, the one only living and true God, which was the first command given to the people of Israel, and binding upon all men:

for the Lord whose name is Jealous, [is] a jealous God;
his name and nature answer to one another; he admits of no rival or competitor in worship; he will not give his glory to another god, or one so called, nor his praise to graven images; and in this he is distinguished from all nominal and fictitious gods, who have many joined with them, and are rivals of them, which gives them no concern, because insensible; but it is otherwise with the Lord, who knows the dishonour done him, and resents it, and is as jealous of any worship being given to another, as the husband is of the honour of his marriage bed; for idolatry is spiritual adultery, as is suggested in the following verse.

Exodus 34:14 In-Context

12 Beware, lest any time thou join friendships with the dwellers of that land, which friendships (shall) be into falling to thee.
13 But also destroy thou their altars, break the images, and cut thou down their [maumet] woods; (And also destroy thou their altars, and break in pieces their images, and cut thou down their idol woods, or their sacred poles;)
14 do not thou worship an alien God; a jealous lover is the Lord's name, God is a fervent lover; (do not thou worship any foreign, or any other, god; for the Lord's name is Jealous, and he is a jealous God;)
15 make thou not (a) covenant with the men of those countries, lest when they have done fornication, that is, idolatry, with their gods, and have worshipped the simulacra of them, any man call thee (someone call thee), that thou eat (some) of the things offered to an idol.
16 Neither thou shalt take a wife of their daughters to thy sons, lest after those daughters have done fornication, that is, idolatry, they make also thy sons to do fornication into their gods (they also make thy sons to do idolatry with their gods).

Related Articles

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.