20 And Moses said to the people, Have no fear: for God has come to put you to the test, so that fearing him you may be kept from sin.
Then give no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God is testing you, to see if all the love of your heart and soul is given to him.
But let the Lord of armies be holy to you, and go in fear of him, giving honour to him.
Put no high value on your wisdom: let the fear of the Lord be before you, and keep yourself from evil:
Then Samuel said to the people, Have no fear: truly you have done evil, but do not be turned away from the Lord; be his servants with all your heart;
Now after these things, God put Abraham to the test, and said to him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.
The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.
And Abraham said, Because it seemed to me that there was no fear of God in this place, and that they might put me to death because of my wife.
And he said to man, Truly the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to keep from evil is the way to knowledge.
But earlier rulers who were before me made the people responsible for their upkeep, and took from them bread and wine at the rate of forty shekels of silver; and even their servants were lords over the people: but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.
So now, go in fear of the Lord, and be his servants with true hearts: put away the gods worshipped by your fathers across the River and in Egypt, and be servants of the Lord.
And now, Israel, what would the Lord your God have you do, but to go in the fear of the Lord your God, walking in all his ways and loving him and doing his pleasure with all your heart and all your soul,
That day when you were waiting before the Lord your God in Horeb, and the Lord said to me, Make all the people come together, so that hearing my words they may go in fear of me all the days of their life on earth and give this teaching to their children.
And in answer to his prayer, the Lord made him see a tree, and when he put it into the water, the water was made sweet. There he gave them a law and an order, testing them; And he said, If with all your heart you will give attention to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his eyes, giving ear to his orders and keeping his laws, I will not put on you any of the diseases which I put on the Egyptians: for I am the Lord your life-giver.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 20
Commentary on Exodus 20 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 20
All things being prepared for the solemn promulgation of the divine law, we have, in this chapter,
Exd 20:1-11
Here is,
Exd 20:12-17
We have here the laws of the second table, as they are commonly called, the last six of the ten commandments, comprehending our duty to ourselves and to one another, and constituting a comment upon the second great commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. As religion towards God is an essential branch of universal righteousness, so righteousness towards men is an essential branch of true religion. Godliness and honesty must go together.
Exd 20:18-21
Exd 20:22-26
Moses having gone into the thick darkness, where God was, God there spoke in his hearing only, privately and without terror, all that follows hence to the end of ch. 23, which is mostly an exposition of the ten commandments; and he was to transmit it by word of mouth first, and afterwards in writing, to the people. The laws in these verses related to God's worship.