What was happening when Moses repeated these commandments?

These words are spoken near the end of Moses’ life, when Israel is camped east of the promised land. Years earlier, God had spoken these same commands from the fire on the mountain, and the people were terrified and stayed back. Now Moses calls all Israel to listen again. He reminds them that God made a covenant with them at Horeb, brought them out of Egypt, and that these commands are the heart of that covenant. Moses stands as the mediator, passing on what God said so they will obey in the land ahead.

What does it mean to have no other gods before God?

When God says, “Thou shalt have none other gods before me,” He is claiming His people’s full loyalty. They are not to trust, fear, or worship any other being in His place. “Before me” means in His presence, under His eye, not just ahead of Him in a list. God is not asking to be first among many, but to be the only true God they serve. This command cuts off all divided worship and calls the heart to belong to God alone.

Why does God forbid making and bowing to images?

God forbids making carved images or any likeness of what is in heaven, on earth, or in the waters for worship. The problem is not art itself, but using anything created as a way to bow down and serve it as if it were God. He says He is a jealous God, meaning He does not share His honor with idols, like a faithful husband who will not accept rivals. Worship that tries to reach God through wood, stone, or any picture twists who He is, so He clearly forbids it.

What does it mean that God is a jealous God visiting iniquity on children?

Calling Himself “a jealous God” shows that God guards His covenant love and will not accept rivals. The phrase about visiting iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generation speaks of how a family’s sin can continue and be judged over time. It does not mean God punishes innocent children for a parent’s faithfulness. The passage also says He shows mercy to thousands of those who love Him and keep His commandments, showing that His mercy is far wider than His judgment.

How is God’s mercy shown in this passage about the commandments?

Even as God warns about punishment for stubborn hate, He speaks much more about mercy. He says He shows mercy to thousands of those who love Him and keep His commandments. The picture is of sin affecting a few generations, but mercy stretching out far beyond that. The commands are given in the setting of grace: God has already brought them out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Obedience is a response to the rescue and kindness they have already received.

Why does God command Israel to keep the sabbath day holy?

God tells Israel to set apart the seventh day as a sabbath, a day of rest and worship. They are to stop their work, and also let their sons, daughters, servants, and even animals rest. Here God ties it to their past: they had been servants in Egypt, working hard with little rest, and God brought them out with a mighty hand. Because He freed them, they are to remember that rescue by resting, showing kindness to those under them, and giving the day back to God in a special way.

What promise is attached to honouring father and mother?

God commands, “Honour thy father and thy mother,” meaning to treat parents with real respect, obedience, and care, not just outward words. He adds a promise: that their days may be prolonged and that it may go well with them in the land He gives. This links family respect with stability and blessing in everyday life. Even where lives are not long, the sense is that God’s way leads to what is truly good, both in this life and, as the wider Bible shows, in the life to come.

What is covered by the commands not to kill, commit adultery, or steal?

“Thou shalt not kill” protects human life, which God has given. It forbids unjust taking of life. “Neither shalt thou commit adultery” guards marriage, forbidding sexual unfaithfulness to one’s spouse. “Neither shalt thou steal” protects another person’s property, forbidding taking what is not yours, whether great or small. These commands stand together, showing that God cares about our relationships, our bodies, and our possessions, and that love for neighbor means guarding all of these.

What does it mean not to bear false witness against a neighbour?

Not bearing false witness means refusing to lie about another person, especially in ways that could harm them. In the setting of courts, it forbids giving a twisted or false report that could cost someone their life, freedom, or goods. More broadly, it calls us not to damage someone’s name with lies or half-truths. God cares about truth and justice, so our words about others must be honest. Loving our neighbour includes protecting their reputation, not tearing it down with false speech.

Why is coveting my neighbour’s wife or goods wrong if I do nothing?

The last commandment shows that God’s law reaches the heart. It names desires for a neighbour’s wife, house, field, servants, animals, or anything that is theirs. Even if no outward act follows, this kind of craving is sin, because it is not content with what God has given and sets the heart on what belongs to someone else. The command teaches that obedience is not just about avoiding visible crimes, but about inner love for God and neighbour that refuses to feed selfish, grasping thoughts.

Deut.5.5

Deuteronomy 5:5

KJV

(I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

The Ten Commandments

(I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

¶ I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make 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 waters beneath the earth:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto 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,

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

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.

Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.

Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:

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, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

¶ Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

Neither shalt thou steal.

Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.