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The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:1
The moral law-Preliminary. The law given from Sinai is the moral law by pre-eminence. The principles which it embodies are of permanent obligation. It is a brief summary of the whole compass of our duty to God and man.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:1-17
The ten commandments severally. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. To the Christian the First Commandment takes the form which our Lord gave it—"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all-thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:1-2
Utility of a course of teaching on the commandments, that Divine law which can never be destroyed. Let those who object to the preaching of morality remember John Wesley's words: "I find more profit in sermons on either…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:1-18
The moral law-General survey. View this law of the ten commandments as— I. AUTHORITATIVELY DELIVERED. "God spake all these words, saying," etc. (Exodus 20:1). An authoritative revelation of moral law was necessary— 1. T…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:2
I am the Lord thy God. The ten precepts were prefaced by this distinct announcement of who it was that uttered them. God would have the Israelites clearly understand, that he himself gave them the commandments. It is on…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 20:3-11
The first four of the ten commandments, commonly called the FIRST table, tell our duty to God. It was fit that those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love, before he had a neighbour to love. It cannot be…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:3-6
These two commandments are complementary: one God only to be worshipped, one way only in which to worship him. Consider:— I. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. 1. How Israel would understand it. "No foreign god in opposition to me.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:3
Thou shalt have. The use of the second person singular is remarkable when a covenant was being made with the people (Exodus 19:5). The form indicated that each individual of the nation was addressed severally, and was r…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:3-6
The first and seceded commandments: against polytheism and image-worship. These two commandments seem to be bound together naturally by the reason given in Exodus 20:5. There Jehovah says, "I am a jealous God;" obviousl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:3-11
The soul for God only. I. GOD'S DEMAND. "Thou shalt have no other," etc. All else is emptiness and falsehood. There must be nothing even of our holy things put between the soul and God. His presence must be the soul's l…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:4
As the first commandment asserts the unity of God, and is a protest against polytheism, so the second asserts his spirituality, and is a protest against idolatry and materialism. Exodus 20:4 and Exodus 20:5 are to be ta…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:5
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them. Every outward sign of honour was shown to images in the ancient world. They were not regarded as emblems, but as actual embodiments of deity. There was a special rite in Greece (…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:6
Shewing mercy unto thousands. Or, "to the thousandth generation." (Compare Deuteronomy 7:9.) In neither case are the numbers to be taken as exact and definite. The object of them is to contrast the long duration of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:7
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. It is disputed whether this is a right rendering. Shav in Hebrew means both "vanity" and,'falsehood;" so that the Third Commandment may forbid either "vain-swear…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:7
The Third Commandment. Profanity forbidden. This Commandment clearly comes as an appropriate sequel to the two preceding ones. Those who are Jehovah's, and who are therefore bound to glorify and serve him alone, depend…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:8-11
The Fourth Commandment: the sacred Sabbath. I. THE GROUND OF THIS COMMANDMENT. God, who had spoken to Israel as to those whom he had brought out of the house of bondage, and who had bidden Moses speak of him to the capt…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:8
Remember the sabbath day. The institution of the sabbath dates, at any rate, from the giving of the manna (Exodus 16:23). Its primeval institution, which has been thought to be implied in Genesis 2:3, is uncertain. The…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:9
Six days shalt thou labour. This is not so much a command as a prohibition'' Thou shaft not labor more than six (consecutive) clays." In them thou shelf do all thy necessary work, so as to have the Sabbath free for the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:10
The seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God. Rather—"The seventh day shall be a sabbath to the Lord thy God;" i.e; the seventh day shall be a day of holy rest dedicated to religion. All unnecessary labour shall b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:11
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth. Two reasons are assigned for the sanctification of the seventh day in the Pentateuch:— 1. The fact that the work of creation took six days, and that on the seventh God res…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 20:12-17
The laws of the SECOND table, that is, the last six of the ten commandments, state our duty to ourselves and to one another, and explain the great commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, Lu 10:27. Godline…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 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 comm…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:12
Honor thy father and thy mother. The obligation of filial respect, love, and reverence is so instinctively' felt by all, that the duty has naturally found a place in every moral code. In the maxims of Ptah-hotep, an Egy…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 20:12
The Fifth Commandment: the commandment for children. I. LOOK AT THIS COMMANDMENT AS IT CONCERNED THE PARENTS. 1. This commandment gave the parents an opportunity for telling the children how it originated. Not only an o…