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Exodus 20:23

in Exodus 20

You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Ye shall not make other gods with me; gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you.

KJV

Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

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This verse in Exodus 20

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

22, 23. the Lord said unto Moses--It appears from De 4:14-16, that this injunction was a conclusion drawn from the scene on Sinai--that as no similitude of God was displayed then, they should not attempt to make any visible figure or form of Him.

This site's exposition

have spoken to you from heaven

on Exodus 20:22-23

God grounds the next word on what the people have just seen, that he talked with them from heaven. The second commandment is then applied to their own metal, gods of silver and gods of gold, before any silver or gold has been gathered.

This site's exposition

You are not to make any gods alongside Me

The phrase any gods alongside Me forbids a god set up beside the LORD in his own worship. Aaron proclaims the calf's feast as a feast to the LORD at 32:5. Israel saw no form at Sinai.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

24 ), Manoah ( Judg. xiii. 19 ), Samuel ( 1 Sam. vii. We may suppose, now that the people of Israel were, with this glorious discovery which God had made of himself to them, that many of them would incline, in this pang of devotion, to offer sacrifice to God; and, it being necessary to a sacrifice that there be an alter, they are here appointed, 1.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number

Ye shall not make with me,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Ye shall not make with me gods of silver - The expressions here are very remarkable. Before it was said, Ye shall have no other gods Before me, אל פני al panai, Exo 20:

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תַעֲשׂ֖וּןyou must make !

    taasunH6213 →2628 times

  • אִתִּ֑יwith me

    ʾitiH854 →929 times

  • אֱלֹ֤הֵיgods of

    ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times

  • כֶ֙סֶף֙silver

    khesefH3701 →403 times

  • וֵאלֹהֵ֣יand gods of

    veloheiH430 →2601 times

  • זָהָ֔בgold

    zahavH2091 →389 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תַעֲשׂ֖וּyou must make

    taasuH6213 →2628 times

  • לָכֶֽם׃for <the> yourselves

    lakhem

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 20:3You shall have no other gods before Me.9 worksLeviticus 19:4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.7 worksEzekiel 20:39And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.6 worksExodus 32:31So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.5 worksExodus 32:8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”5 works2 Kings 17:33They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.4 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Zephaniah 1:5those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,4 worksLeviticus 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 the LORD your God.4 worksDeuteronomy 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 say, ‘Amen!’4 worksJudges 17:3And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”4 works1 John 5:20–21And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.3 works1 Corinthians 10:21–22You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.3 worksRevelation 22:15But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.3 worksDaniel 3:1King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.3 worksExodus 32:4He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”3 worksDaniel 5:23Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.2 works2 Kings 17:41So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.2 worksColossians 2:18–19Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    2 Kings 17:33

    They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 17:41

      So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 16:13

      No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and…

    • Matthew 6:24

      No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and…

  • Through

    Zephaniah 1:5

    those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 18:21

      Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Kings 17:33

      They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.

    • Jeremiah 19:13

      The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and…

    • 1 Kings 11:33

      For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor…

  • Through

    Ezekiel 20:39

    And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 20:25–26

      I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies28

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About Exodus

The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 20 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.

Read on in Exodus 20 →