--- title: "Exodus 20 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary" description: "Read Exodus 20 with clarkes commentary commentary. 1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou sh" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20" --- [ Read](/kjv/exodus/20)[ Commentary](/study/exodus/20)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/exodus/20) Audio 1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I *am* the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.* 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 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: 5 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 fourth *generation* of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 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 thy gates: 11 For *in* six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them *is*, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 12 ¶ Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that *is* thy neighbour’s. 18 ¶ And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw *it*, they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God *was*. 22 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 ¶ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.* 26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. [Exodus 19](/study/exodus/19) [Exodus 21](/study/exodus/21) ## Commentary To verse 1 Verse [Exodus 20:1](/kjv/exodus/20/1). ***All these words*** — Houbigant supposes, and with great plausibility of reason, that the clause את כל הדברים האלה *eth col haddebarim haelleh*, "all these words," belong to the latter part of the concluding verse of [Exodus 19:25](/kjv/exodus/19/25), which he thinks should be read thus: *And Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto* *them* ALL THESE WORDS; i.e., delivered the solemn charge relative to their not attempting to come up to that part of the mountain on which God manifested himself in his glorious majesty, lest he should break forth upon them and consume them. For how could Divine justice and purity suffer a people so defiled to stand in his immediate presence? When Moses, therefore, had gone down and spoken *all these words*, and he and Aaron had *reascended the* mount, then the Divine Being, as supreme legislator, is majestically introduced thus: *And God spake, saying*. This gives a dignity to the commencement of this chapter of which the clause above mentioned, if not referred to the speech of Moses, deprives it. The *Anglo-Saxon* favours this emendation: [Anglo-Saxon], *God* *spoke* THUS, which is the whole of the first verse as it stands in that version. Some learned men are of opinion that the TEN COMMANDMENTS were delivered on May 30, being then the day of *pentecost*. The laws delivered on Mount Sinai have been variously named. In [Deuteronomy 4:13](/kjv/deuteronomy/4/13), they are called עשרת הדברים *asereth haddebarim*, THE TEN WORDS. In the preceding chapter, [Exodus 19:5](/kjv/exodus/19/5), God calls them את בריתי *eth berithi*, my COVENANT, i.e., the agreement he entered into with the people of Israel to take them for his peculiar people, if they took him for their God and portion. IF *ye will obey my voice* *indeed*, and KEEP my COVENANT, THEN *shall ye be a peculiar treasure* *unto me*. And the word *covenant* here evidently refers to the *laws* given in this chapter, as is evident from [Deuteronomy 4:13](/kjv/deuteronomy/4/13): *And he declared unto you his* COVENANT, *which he commanded you to* *perform*, even TEN COMMANDMENTS. They have been also termed the *moral law*, because they contain and lay down rules for the regulation of the *manners* or *conduct* of men. Sometimes they have been termed *the* LAW, התורה *hattorah*, by way of eminence, as containing the grand system of spiritual *instruction, direction,* *guidance*, c. See on the word LAW, [Exodus 12:49](/kjv/exodus/12/49). [Exodus 12:49](/kjv/exodus/12/49). And frequently the DECALOGUE, Δεκαλογος, which is a literal translation into Greek of the עשרת הדברים *asereth haddebarim*, or TEN WORDS, of Moses. Among divines they are generally divided into what they term the *first* and *second* tables. The FIRST *table* containing the *first,* *second, third*, and *fourth* commandments, and comprehending the whole system of *theology*, the true notions we should form of the Divine nature, the reverence we owe and the religious service we should render to him. The SECOND, containing the *six* last commandments, and comprehending a complete system of *ethics*, or *moral duties*, which man owes to his fellows, and on the due performance of which the order, peace and happiness of society depend. By this division, the FIRST table contains our *duty* to GOD the SECOND our *duty* to our NEIGHBOUR. This division, which is natural enough, refers us to the grand principle, love to God and love to man, through which both tables are observed. 1. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. 2. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets. [Matthew 22:37](/kjv/matthew/22/37); and *"*[Matthew 22:38](/kjv/matthew/22/38)*"*. [Matthew 22:39](/kjv/matthew/22/39); and *"*[Matthew 22:40](/kjv/matthew/22/40)*"*. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20","name":"Exodus 20 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Exodus 20 with clarkes commentary commentary. 1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou sh","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","name":"clarkes commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus","name":"Exodus"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/exodus/20","name":"20"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```