2 I am Jehovah thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
And the Egyptians evil-entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage; and we cried to Jehovah, the God of our fathers, and Jehovah heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression; and Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt with a powerful hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders;
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be a God to them.
And Jehovah said to Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his bondmen, that I might do these my signs in their midst, and that thou mightest tell in the ears of thy son and thy son's son what I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah the God of the Hebrews: How long dost thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. For, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, I will to-morrow bring locusts into thy borders; and they shall cover the face of the land, so that ye will not be able to see the land; and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which ye have remaining from the hail, and shall eat every tree which ye have growing in the field; and they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy bondmen, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. And Pharaoh's bondmen said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? let the men go, that they may serve Jehovah their God: dost thou not yet know that Egypt is ruined? And Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh. And he said to them, Go, serve Jehovah your God. Who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters; with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we have a feast of Jehovah. And he said to them, Let Jehovah be so with you, as I let you go, and your little ones: see that evil is before you! Not so: go now, ye [that are] men, and serve Jehovah! for it is that ye have desired. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land -- all that the hail hath left. And Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt, very grievous; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them will be such. And they covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing on the trees, and in the herbs of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
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Commentary on Exodus 20 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 20
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).
2. I am the Lord thy God—This is a preface to the ten commandments—the latter clause being specially applicable to the case of the Israelites, while the former brings it home to all mankind; showing that the reasonableness of the law is founded in their eternal relation as creatures to their Creator, and their mutual relations to each other.
3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me—in My presence, beside, or except Me.
4, 5. 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.
8. Remember the sabbath day—implying it was already known, and recognized as a season of sacred rest. The first four commandments [Ex 20:3-11] comprise our duties to God—the other six [Ex 20:12-17] our duties to our fellow men; and as interpreted by Christ, they reach to the government of the heart as well as the lip (Mt 5:17). "If a man do them he shall live in them" [Le 18:5; Ne 9:29]. But, ah! what an if for frail and fallen man. Whoever rests his hope upon the law stands debtor to it all; and in this view every one would be without hope were not "the Lord our Righteousness" [Jer 23:6; 33:16] (Joh 1:17).
18-21. all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings—They were eye and ear witnesses of the awful emblems of the Deity's descent. But they perceived not the Deity Himself.
19. let not God speak with us, lest we die, &c.—The phenomena of thunder and lightning had been one of the plagues so fatal to Egypt, and as they heard God speaking to them now, they were apprehensive of instant death also. Even Moses himself, the mediator of the old covenant, did "exceedingly quake and fear" (Heb 12:21). But doubtless God spake what gave him relief—restored him to a frame of mind fit for the ministrations committed to him; and hence immediately after he was enabled to relieve and comfort them with the relief and comfort which he himself had received from God (2Co 1:4).
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.
24. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me—a regulation applicable to special or temporary occasions.
25. thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, &c.—that is, carved with figures and ornaments that might lead to superstition.
26. by steps—a precaution taken for the sake of decency, in consequence of the loose, wide, flowing garments of the priests.