Exodus 20:4
in Exodus 20You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
KJV
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
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This verse in Exodus 20
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThou shalt not make unto thee any graven image - As the word פסל pasal signifies to hew, carve, grave, etc., פסל pesel may here signify any kind of image, either of wood, stone, or metal, on which the axe, the chisel, or the graving tool has been employed. This commandment includes in its prohibitions every species of idolatry known to have been practiced among the Egyptians. The reader will see this the more plainly by consulting the notes on the ten plagues, particularly those on Exodus
This site's exposition
not make unto thee any graven image
on Exodus 20:4-5
Graven image occurs here for the first time in Scripture and jealous occurs for the first time in the next verse, so God's first self-description at Sinai is that he is jealous. The image is forbidden in three directions, heaven above, earth beneath and water under the earth, which covers everything a craftsman could copy. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation is limited in the same breath to them that hate me, and Deuteronomy 24:16 forbids a court to put children to death for their fathers.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Concerning the command "You shall not make a graven image," the Jews object that we make graven images, because we have many images in our churches. I say that it is impossible for the Divinity to be carved; but we make an effigy of Christ …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
In the second word: You shall not make a graven image, all false and superstitious inventions of errors are prohibited. And it should be noted here that every error is nothing other than a fiction of the mind. For imagination produces error by clouding reason …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Concerning the third clause of the first commandment, in which God prohibits worshipping corporeal nature, the Jews say that we worship a morsel of bread; and this seems to them most absurd. But it must be understood that at the utterance of the word of …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,....
It also forbids us to make images of God in our fancies, as if he were a man as we are. Our religious worship must be governed by the power of faith, not by the power of imagination. They must not make such images or pictures as the heathen worshipped, lest they also should be tempted to worship them.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It also forbids us to make images of God in our fancies, as if he were a man as we are. Our religious worship must be governed by the power of faith, not by the power of imagination. They must not make such images or pictures as the heathen worshipped, lest they also should be tempted to worship them.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thou shalt not make . . . any graven image . . . thou shalt not bow down thyself to them--that is, "make in order to bow." Under the auspices of Moses himself, figures of cherubim, brazen serpents, oxen, and many other things in the earth beneath, were made and never condemned. The mere making was no sin--it was the making with the intent to give idolatrous worship.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Thou shalt not make . . . any graven image . . . thou shalt not bow down thyself to them--that is, "make in order to bow." Under the auspices of Moses himself, figures of cherubim, brazen serpents, oxen, and many other things in the earth beneath, were made and never condemned. The mere making was no sin--it was the making with the intent to give idolatrous worship.
Modern Voices1 voice
We may say that one most essential feature was that it was featureless. Much as we may prefer that creative liberty which the Christian culture has declared and by which it has eclipsed even the arts of antiquity, we must not underrate the determining importance …
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַֽעֲשֶׂ֨ה־ | taaseh- | you must make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְךָ֥֣ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| פֶ֣֙סֶל֙׀ | fesel | an image | H6459 → | |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| תְּמוּנָ֡֔ה | temunah | form | H8544 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר֣ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בַּשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙׀ | bashamayim | [is] in the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| מִמַּ֡֔עַל | mimaal | <from> above | H4605 → | 140 times |
| וַֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר֩ | vaasher | and which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּאָ֖֨רֶץ | baaretz | [is] on the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִתַָּ֑֜חַת | mitachat | <from> beneath | H8478 → | 505 times |
| וַאֲשֶׁ֥֣ר | vaasher | and which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בַּמַּ֖֣יִם׀ | bamayim | [is] in the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מִתַּ֥֣חַת | mitachat | from under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| לָאָֽ֗רֶץ׃ | laaretz | to the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
לֹֽ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַֽעֲשֶׂ֨ה־you must make
taaseh-H6213 →2628 times
לְךָ֥֣for <the> yourself
lekha
פֶ֣֙סֶל֙׀an image
feselH6459 →
וְכָל־and any
vekholH3605 →5413 times
תְּמוּנָ֡֔הform
temunahH8544 →
אֲשֶׁ֤ר֣which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בַּשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙׀[is] in the heavens
bashamayimH8064 →421 times
מִמַּ֡֔עַל<from> above
mimaalH4605 →140 times
וַֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר֩and which
vaasherH834 →5497 times
בָּאָ֖֨רֶץ[is] on the earth
baaretzH776 →2504 times
מִתַָּ֑֜חַת<from> beneath
mitachatH8478 →505 times
וַאֲשֶׁ֥֣רand which
vaasherH834 →5497 times
בַּמַּ֖֣יִם׀[is] in the waters
bamayimH4325 →581 times
מִתַּ֥֣חַתfrom under
mitachatH8478 →505 times
לָאָֽ֗רֶץ׃to the earth
laaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 26:1“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 27:15
‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 19:4
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
- Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
- Numbers 33:52
you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
- Deuteronomy 27:15
Through
Leviticus 19:4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:1
“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 20:23
You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
- Leviticus 26:1
Through
Psalms 97:7All worshipers of images are put to shame— those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:14
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
- Hebrews 1:6
And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”
- Jeremiah 10:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
On this verse
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 2; GK Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, Ch. 4 (1925); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.