--- title: "Exodus 20 - Study King James Bible with the church pulpit commentary" description: "Read Exodus 20 with the church pulpit 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/the-church-pulpit-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 *‘THE TEN WORDS’* **‘All these words.’** ** [Exodus 20:1](/kjv/exodus/20/1)** ** By way of introduction note: 1. The harmony between the solemn surroundings of Sinai, and the solemn revelations there made by God. Dean Stanley brings this out well; and it is the subject of the impressive contrast drawn in [Hebrews 12:18-24](/kjv/hebrews/12/18-24). God’s *Nature* is in harmony with God’s *Word*. Nature is like the organ that accompanies the Divine solo. 2. The importance of moral preparations for personal or national audience with the Holy God. 3. There is a question whether an actual Divine voice was heard sounding from Sinai, or whether the people were frightened by the inarticulate sound of mighty thunderings. To decide this ch. 19 should be studied. **I. The Overwhelming Solemnity of the Proclamation** of the ‘Ten Words,’ as compared with the precepts of the Ceremonial Law. Those were given through Moses: these, amid accompaniments of indescribable majesty, by *God Himself*. They were afterwards written on tables of stone by His own finger, to be preserved for ages in the Ark of the Covenant, and immediately beneath the Mercy-seat itself. **II. The Order,—God first,** man second; as in the Lord’s Prayer. Morality rests on religion. The only sure road to thorough righteousness manward is the way of holiness. Honour God, and you cannot be a bad neighbour. Love to Him soon works out in love to others. The law *begins* with the state of heart *towards God*: it *ends* with the state of heart *towards man*,—‘Thou shalt not covet.’ How important, then, to begin at the right place, to *get right with God!* **III. These old words judge each one of us to-day**; and they search, as Jesus tells us, not the act merely, but the *thought*, the *desire*, the *secret purpose*. Who can abide their searching light? None. We are all verily guilty. What then? The glorious Gospel with its promise of complete salvation from the curse of the broken law, through the Atoning Lamb, and from the curse of a godless heart, by the gift both of the new spirit and of the Holy Spirit Himself to live therein as the well-spring of all righteousness, the Eternal Life. **Illustration** (1) ‘This code of commandments is a transcript of the records of conscience in the heart of men. This is to those what the great town clock is to the watches which the citizens carry in their pockets. We cannot keep this holy law, in its letter or in its spirit, as expounded by our Lord. It is high, we cannot attain to it. Every attempt is doomed to fail, as St. Paul tells us in Romans 7, which we make in the energy of our own nature. And it is only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit that we are able to realise the Divine purpose in laying down these transcendently glorious claims. We yield obedience then, not because of pressure brought to bear on us from without, but from an inward impulse, which it is our joy to obey. We are not actuated by the fear of a slave, but by the love of a child, who is animated by the spirit of his Father.’ (2) ‘The glory of the Decalogue is that, while the tables are two, the law is one, and that it unites religion and morality at a time when they were supposed to be entirely separate. Significantly, the Commandments are mostly prohibitions. “Thou shalt not” is needed in a sinful world. Negative commandments are the rough rind which guards the ripening fruit. The deliverance is basis of all, so even then a redemptive act was the foundation of God’s claim on men, and grateful love was the motive of obedience.’ (3) ‘Ah, but let me have the new spirit created in me from above—and what a change! The law is now my Father’s law, and, since all His thoughts toward me are thoughts of peace and not of evil, I am eager to please Him. It is now my Saviour’s law, and, since for my sake He emptied Himself and welcomed the death of the Cross, I cannot do enough in His service. When the man is right, the Commandment is not grievous.’ ```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/the-church-pulpit-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/the-church-pulpit-commentary/exodus/20#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/exodus/20","name":"Exodus 20 - Study King James Bible with the church pulpit commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/exodus/20#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Exodus 20 with the church pulpit 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/the-church-pulpit-commentary/exodus/20#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/exodus/20"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-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/the-church-pulpit-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary","name":"the church pulpit commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/exodus","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/exodus","name":"Exodus"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/exodus/20","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-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"]}]} ```