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All things being prepared for the solemn promulgation of the divine law, we have, in this chapter, I. The ten commandments, as God himself spoke them upon Mount Sinai (Ex 20:1-17), as remarkable a portion of scripture as any in the Old Testament. II. The impressions made upon the people thereby, Ex 20:18-21. III. Some particular instructions which God gave privately to Moses, to be by him communicated to the people, relating to his worship, Ex 20:22-26, etc.

The preface to the ten commandments, Exodus 20:1, Exodus 20:2. The First commandment, against mental or theoretic idolatry, Exodus 20:3. The Second, against making and worshipping images, or practical idolatry, Exodus 20:4-6. The Third, against false swearing, blasphemy, and irreverent use of the name of God, Exodus 20:7. The Fourth, against profanation of the Sabbath, and idleness on the other days of the week, Exodus 20:8-11. The Fifth, against disrespect and disobedience to parents, Exodus 20:12. The Sixth, against murder and cruelty, Exodus 20:13. The Seventh, against adultery and uncleanness, Exodus 20:14. The Eighth, against stealing and dishonesty, Exodus 20:15. The Ninth, against false testimony, perjury, etc., Exodus 20:16. The Tenth, against covetousness, Exodus 20:17. The people are alarmed at the awful appearance of God on the mount, and stand afar off, Exodus 20:18. They pray that Moses may be mediator between God and them, Exodus 20:19. Moses encourages them, Exodus 20:20. He draws near to the thick darkness, and God communes with him, Exodus 20:21, Exodus 20:22. Farther directions against idolatry, Exodus 20:23. Directions concerning making an altar of earth, Exodus 20:24; and an altar of hewn stone, Exodus 20:25. None of these to be ascended by steps, and the reason given, Exodus 20:26.

INTRODUCTION TO Exodus 20

In this chapter we have an account of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; the preface to it, Exodus 20:1, the ten commandments it consists of, Exodus 20:8, the circumstances attending it, which caused the people to remove at some distance, Exodus 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, Exodus 20:19 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, Exodus 20:22.

Chapter Exodus 20:1-21The Decalogue. Introduction to the Book of the Covenant

The Decalogue is a concise but comprehensive summary of the fundamental duties of an Israelite towards God, and his neighbour. Jehovah is to be the only God recognized by Israel: He is to be worshipped under no material form; His name is to be reverenced; and the ‘sabbath’ is weekly to be kept holy in His honour. Respect is to be paid to parents; murder, adultery, theft, and false witness,—the commonest, perhaps, of the graver offences,—especially in a society in which the hand of the law is not strong,—are forbidden; the Israelite is not even to entertain the desire to possess anything of a neighbour’s. Within a brief compass, the Decalogue thus ‘lays down the fundamental articles of religion (sovereignty and spirituality of God), and asserts the claims of morality in the chief spheres of human relationship (home, calling, society).’ By a few salient and far-reaching precepts, pointedly expressed, and easily remembered, it covers the whole religious and moral life; and provides a summary of human duty, capable of ready expansion and adjustment even to the highest Christian standards, and unsurpassable as a practical rule of life. The Decalogue moreover brings morality into intimate connexion with religion; and in an age when popular religion was only too readily satisfied with a formal ceremonialism, it emphasized, not ritual, but spirituality, reverence, and respect for the rights of other men (cf. Romans 13:9), as what was pleasing in God’s sight, and demanded by Him (cf. the later teaching of the prophets, Amos 5:24, Hosea 6:6, Micah 6:8, &c.). Cf. further DB. i. 582.

The Decalogue, though assigned to ‘E,’ was naturally derived by him from a pre-existing source, and incorporated by him in his narrative. At the time when E wrote, it was believed traditionally to have been inscribed by Jehovah on two tables of stone (Exodus 24:12, Exodus 31:18 b, Exodus 32:16), and (though this is first distinctly stated in Deuteronomy 10:5) to have been placed by Moses in the Ark. The Decalogue appears also in Deuteronomy 5:6-21, in what purports (vv. 5, 22) to be a verbal quotation; but there are several differences, especially in the 4th, 5th, and 10th Commandments. The most noticeable differences consist of additions, evidently the work of a Deuteronomic hand, and intended to emphasize thoughts or principles to which in Dt. importance is attached (as vv. 12, 16 the words ‘as Jehovah thy God commanded thee,’ cf. Deuteronomy 20:17; Deuteronomy 24:8; Deuteronomy 26:18; v. 14b ‘that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou,’ cf. for the philanthropic motive Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 14:29; v. 16b ‘that it may be well with thee,’ cf. Deuteronomy 5:29; Deuteronomy 6:18; Deuteronomy 12:25; Deuteronomy 12:28; Deuteronomy 22:7): Exodus 20:11 (‘For in six days,’ &c.) is, however, not found in Dt., and the motive given for the observance is a different one (‘And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm: therefore Jehovah thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day’; cf. Deuteronomy 15:15; Deuteronomy 16:11-12; Deuteronomy 24:18; Deuteronomy 24:22). It may however be doubted whether even the text of Exodus exhibits the Decalogue in its primitive form. It is an old and probable conjecture (Ewald, Hist. ii. 159, Di. al.) that the Commandments were originally all expressed in the same terse and simple form in which the first, and the sixth to the ninth still appear, and that the explanatory comments appended in certain cases were only added subsequently. The prefatory sentence (v. 2), and most of the comments, shew strong literary affinities (see the notes) with J (vv. 5b, 6, cf. Exodus 34:7; Exodus 34:14), or the compiler of JE (v. 2, cf. Exodus 13:14 b), and (esp. in vv. 2, 4b, 5a, 10b, 12) with Dt.; hence it is probable that these parts are due, partly, like other parenetic passages of Ex. (cf. on Exodus 13:3-16, Exodus 15:26), to the compiler of JE, and partly to a writer influenced by Deuteronomy 5:11 stands upon a different footing from the other comments: it is in style unlike both JE and Dt., but it presupposes Genesis 1, and agrees largely in expression with Exodus 31:17 b, Genesis 2:3 a (both P). As it is scarcely likely that the author of Dt. would have omitted the verse, had it formed part of the Decalogue as he knew it, it is probable that it was introduced into the text of Ex. subsequently, on the basis of the passages of P just cited. If these suppositions are correct, the Decalogue will have reached its present form by a gradual growth, explanatory of parenetic comments, derived from, or based upon, J, the compiler of JE, Dt., and P, having been successively introduced into it with is didactic purpose. On the Nash papyrus of the Decalogue, see p. 417.

Comp. the eloquent homiletical expansion of the first two Commandments in Deuteronomy 4, 5-11.

The Decalogue is known in the OT. by the following designations:—

Ex 20:1-26.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

1. And God spake all these words--The Divine Being Himself was the speaker

(De 5:12, 32, 33),

in tones so loud as to be heard--so distinct as to be intelligible by the whole multitude standing in the valleys below, amid the most appalling phenomena of agitated nature. Had He been simply addressing rational and intelligent creatures, He would have spoken with the still small voice of persuasion and love. But He was speaking to those who were at the same time fallen and sinful creatures, and a corresponding change was required in the manner of God's procedure, in order to give a suitable impression of the character and sanctions of the law revealed from heaven

(Ro 11:5-9).

The Hebrew name which is rendered in our King James Version as the ten commandments occurs in Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 10:4. It literally means "the Ten Words." The Ten Commandments are also called the law, even the commandment Exodus 24:12, the words of the covenant Exodus 34:28, the tables of the covenant Deuteronomy 9:9, the covenant Deuteronomy 4:13, the two tables Deuteronomy 9:10, Deuteronomy 9:17, and, most frequently, the testimony (e. g. Exodus 16:34; Exodus 25:16), or the two tables of the testimony (e. g. Exodus 31:18). In the New Testament they are called simply the commandments (e. g. Matthew 19:17). The name decalogue is found first in Clement of Alexandria, and was commonly used by the Fathers who followed him.

Thus we know that the tables were two, and that the commandments were ten, in number. But the Scriptures do not, by any direct statements, enable us to determine with precision how the Ten Commandments are severally to be made out, nor how they are to be allotted to the Two tables. On each of these points various opinions have been held (see Exodus 20:12).

Of the Words of Yahweh engraven on the tables of Stone, we have two distinct statements, one in Exodus Exo. 20:1-17 and one in Deuteronomy Deu 5:7-21, apparently of equal authority, but differing principally from each other in the fourth, the fifth, and the tenth commandments.

It has been supposed that the original commandments were all in the same terse and simple form of expression as appears (both in Exodus and Deuteronomy) in the first, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth, such as would be most suitable for recollection, and that the passages in each copy in which the most important variations are found were comments added when the books were written.

The account of the delivery of them in Exodus 19 and in Exodus 20:18-21 is in accordance with their importance as the recognized basis of the covenant between Yahweh and His ancient people (Exodus 34:27-28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 1 Kings 8:21, etc.), and as the divine testimony against the sinful tendencies in man for all ages. While it is here said that "God spake all these words," and in Deuteronomy 5:4, that He "talked face to face," in the New Testament the giving of the law is spoken of as having been through the ministration of Angels Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2. We can reconcile these contrasts of language by keeping in mind that God is a Spirit, and that He is essentially present in the agents who are performing His will.

All these words - Houbigant supposes, and with great plausibility of reason, that the clause את כל הדברים האלה eth col haddebarim haelleh, "all these words," belong to the latter part of the concluding verse of Exodus 19, which he thinks should be read thus: And Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them All These Words; i.e., delivered the solemn charge relative to their not attempting to come up to that part of the mountain on which God manifested himself in his glorious majesty, lest he should break forth upon them and consume them. For how could Divine justice and purity suffer a people so defiled to stand in his immediate presence? When Moses, therefore, had gone down and spoken all these words, and he and Aaron had re-ascended the mount, then the Divine Being, as supreme legislator, is majestically introduced thus: And God spake, saying. This gives a dignity to the commencement of this chapter of which the clause above mentioned, if not referred to the speech of Moses, deprives it. The Anglo-Saxon favors this emendation: God spoke Thus, which is the whole of the first verse as it stands in that version.

Some learned men are of opinion that the Ten Commandments were delivered on May 30, being then the day of pentecost.

The laws delivered on Mount Sinai have been variously named. In Deuteronomy 4:13, they are called עשרת הדברים asereth haddebarim, The Ten Words. In the preceding chapter, Exodus 19:5, God calls them את בריתי eth berithi, my Covenant, i.e., the agreement he entered into with the people of Israel to take them for his peculiar people, if they took him for their God and portion. If ye will obey my voice indeed, and Keep my Covenant, Then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto me. And the word covenant here evidently refers to the laws given in this chapter, as is evident from Deuteronomy 4:13 : And he declared unto you his Covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments. They have been also termed the moral law, because they contain and lay down rules for the regulation of the manners or conduct of men. Sometimes they have been termed the Law, התורה hattorah, by way of eminence, as containing the grand system of spiritual instruction, direction, guidance, etc. See on the word Law, Exodus 12:49 (note). And frequently the Decalogue, Δεκαλογος, which is a literal translation into Greek of the עשרת הדברים asereth haddebarim, or Ten Words, of Moses.

Among divines they are generally divided into what they term the first and second tables. The First table containing the first, second, third, and fourth commandments, and comprehending the whole system of theology, the true notions we should form of the Divine nature, the reverence we owe and the religious service we should render to him. The Second, containing the six last commandments, and comprehending a complete system of ethics, or moral duties, which man owes to his fellows, and on the due performance of which the order, peace and happiness of society depend. By this division, the First table contains our duty to God; the Second our duty to our Neighbor. This division, which is natural enough, refers us to the grand principle, love to God and love to man, through which both tables are observed.

1. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength.

2. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

On these two hang all the law and the prophets. See Clarke's note on Matthew 22:37. See Clarke's note on Matthew 22:38. See Clarke's note on Matthew 22:39. See Clarke's note on Matthew 22:40.

And God spake all these words,.... Which follow, commonly called the decalogue, or ten commands; a system or body of laws, selected and adapted to the case and circumstances of the people of Israel; striking at such sins as they were most addicted to, and they were under the greatest temptation of falling into the commission of; to prevent which, the observation of these laws was enjoined them; not but that whatsoever of them is of a moral nature, as for the most part they are, are binding on all mankind, and to be observed both by Jew and Gentile; and are the best and shortest compendium of morality that ever was delivered out, except the abridgment of them by our Lord, Matthew 22:36, the ancient Jews had a notion, and which Jarchi delivers as his own, that these words were spoken by God in one word; which is not to be understood grammatically; but that those laws are so closely compacted and united together as if they were but one word, and are not to be detached and separated from each other; hence, as the Apostle James says, whosoever offends in one point is guilty of all, James 2:10, and if this notion was as early as the first times of the Gospel, one would be tempted to think the Apostle Paul had reference to it, Romans 13:9 though indeed he seems to have respect only to the second table of the law; these words were spoke in an authoritative way as commands, requiring not only attention but obedience to them; and they were spoken by God himself in the hearing of all the people of Israel; and were not, as Aben Ezra observes, spoken by a mediator or middle person, for as yet they had not desired one; nor by an angel or angels, as the following words show, though the law is said to be spoken by angels, to be ordained by them, in the hands of a mediator, and given by the disposition of them, which perhaps was afterwards done, see Acts 7:53. See Gill on Acts 7:53. See Gill on Galatians 3:19. See Gill on Hebrews 2:2.

saying; as follows.