34 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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,...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
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 (ver. 1-17), as remarkable a portion of scripture as any in the Old Testament. II. The impressions made upon the people thereby, ver. 18-21. III. Some particular instructions which...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And God spake all these words saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. God is the only God, and no other object of worship is to be tolerated for a moment.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I am the Lord thy God,.... This verse does not contain the first of these commands, but is a preface to them, showing that God had a right to enact and enjoin the people of Israel laws; and that they were under obligation to attend unto them with reverence, and cheerfully obey them, since he was the Lord, the eternal and immutable Jehovah, the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. This is the first command, and is opposed to the polytheism of the Gentiles, the Egyptians, from whom Israel was just come, and whose gods some of them might have had a favourable opinion of and liking to, and had committed idolatry with; and the Canaanites, into whose land they were going; and to prevent...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,.... An image of anything graven by art or man's device, cut out of wood of stone, and so anything that was molten, or cast into a mould or form, engraved by men, and this in order to be worshipped; for otherwise images of things might be made for other uses and purposes, as the cherubim over the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall not bow down thyself to them,.... Perform any worship to them, show any reverence of them by any gesture of the body; one being mentioned, bowing the body, and put for all others, as prostration of it to the earth, bending the knee, kissing the hand, lifting up of hands or eyes to them, or by any outward action expressing a religious...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,.... And show their love by worshipping God, and him only, by serving him acceptably with reverence and godly fear, by a cheerful obedience to all his commands, by all religious exercises, both internal and external, as follows: and keep my commandments; not only this, but all others; for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain,.... Make use of the name Lord or God, or any other name and epithet of the divine Being, in a light and trifling way, without any show of reverence of him, and affection to him; whereas the name of God ought never to be mentioned but in a grave and serious manner, and with an awe of the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD shall not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. A reverence for the very name of God is demanded and all things that are connected with his worship are to be kept sacred.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. By abstaining from all servile work and business, and from all pleasures and recreations lawful on other days, and by spending it in religious exercises, both internal and external. This the Israelites are bid to "remember", by observing it in such a manner, because this command had been given them before...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within the gates: for in six days the LORD made...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Six days shalt thou labour,.... This is not to be taken for a precept, but a permission; not as a command enjoining men to work and labour with their hands, to provide for themselves and families things useful and necessary, and honest in the sight of God; but as a grant and allowance of so many days to employ themselves in, for their own profit...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God,.... Not which he rested on, and ceased from the works of creation in, though he did rest on the seventh day of the creation, and so on every other day since, as well as that; nor does it appear, nor can it be proved, that this day appointed to the Jews as a sabbath was the seventh day of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, c] And of which six days, and of the several things made in each of them, see the notes on the first chapter of Genesis: and resteth the seventh day: which does not suppose labour, attended with weariness and fatigue for the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Honour thy father and thy mother, c] Which is the fifth commandment of the decalogue, but is the first commandment with promise, as the apostle says, Ephesians 6:2 and is the first of the second table: this, though it may be extended to all ancestors in the ascending line, as father's father and mother, mother's father and mother, c. and to all...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. These commandments take a far wider sweep than the mere words. “Thou shalt not kill” includes the doing of anything by which life may be shortened as well as taken away. It includes...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt not kill. Not meaning any sort of creatures, for there are some to be killed for the food and nourishment of men, and others for their safety and preservation; but rational creatures, men, women, and children, any of the human species, of every age, sex, condition, or nation; no man has a right to take away his own life, or the life of...