TheoMaps

Act IV · Israel

Exodus 20: The Ten Commandments

The LORD who brought Israel out speaks the Ten Commandments, and the terrified people ask for a mediator.

Chapter 20 of 4026 verses5 sectionsBSB

Where Exodus 20 sits

Genesis66 books · 1,189 chaptersRevelation
In the story
Act IV, Israel: Exodus–Malachi · Redeemed, c. 1446–1406 BC
In the Bible
Old Testament · The Law · chapter 20 of 40 in Exodus
In Exodus
The covenant made, 19:1–24:18 · part of At Sinai: the LORD dwells with His people
Before
Exodus 19: On eagles' wings
After
Exodus 21: These are the ordinances

Exodus 20 summary

God speaks all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Then come the ten: have no other gods before Him; make no idol to worship, for He is a jealous God who visits iniquity and shows loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Him; do not take His name in vain; remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and rested the seventh; honor father and mother, that your days may be long in the land; do not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet anything that is your neighbor's. The people see the thunder, lightning, ram's horn and smoke, stand far off trembling, and beg Moses to speak to them instead, or they will die; Moses tells them God has come to test them so that His fear may keep them from sin, and he draws near to the thick darkness where God is. The LORD then begins the Book of the Covenant with laws on worship: no gods of silver or gold, and an altar of earth or uncut stone wherever He causes His name to be remembered.

Exodus 20 in context

Speaking
God speaks the commandments from the mountain in the hearing of all Israel; then the LORD speaks to Moses alone
Written for
Israel, newly redeemed, receiving the moral law in God's own voice; and through them every people, since this law binds all
Around it
Follows the LORD's descent on Sinai (ch. 19); the laws of the Book of the Covenant begin at 20:22 and run to 23:33

The sections of Exodus 20

  1. Who brought you out
    20:1–2
  2. Toward God
    20:3–11
  3. Toward neighbor
    20:12–17
  4. Speak to us yourself
    20:18–21
  5. An altar of earth
    20:22–26

Read Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

1And God spoke all these words:

2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3You shall have no other gods before Me.

4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.

8Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. 11For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

12Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13You shall not murder.

14You shall not commit adultery.

15You shall not steal.

16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Moses Comforts the People

18When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

20“Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.” 21And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Idolatry Forbidden

22Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.

24You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

25Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it. 26And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’

Berean Standard Bible, 26 verses. The BSB is in the public domain.

Also in The covenant made

  • Exodus 19
  • Exodus 21
  • Exodus 22
  • Exodus 23
  • Exodus 24

Places

  • Mount Sinai
  • Egypt

Read alongside

  • Deuteronomy 5
  • Matthew 22
  • Romans 13
  • Romans 7
  • Ephesians 6
  • Hebrews 12

Chapters that point here

Questions on Exodus 20

  1. What does God say about Himself before He gives the first commandment (20:2)?

  2. Which commandments concern God, and which concern our neighbor?

  3. On what does the fourth commandment ground the Sabbath (20:11)?

The answers are in TheoMaps Challenges.

Plus What TheoMaps holds for Exodus 20

  • How Exodus 20 points to Christ
  • What each of its 5 sections says, and how one leads into the next
  • 4 threads, 3 promises and 1 covenant, with the verses that join them
  • 5 doctrines it teaches: the law of God, God and the Trinity, worship and the Lord's Day, Christ the Mediator and good works
  • How it is shaped: Shaped like an ancient treaty (its opening)
  • Why those 6 chapters belong beside it
  • The answers to its questions, in Challenges

TheoMaps Plus opens every book the way Genesis is open, on the map, with Challenges to help you remember it.

Get launch newsSee Genesis 22 opened in full

Written and reviewed by AJ Reyes. Reviewed . How we write the notes

Sources for these notes (13)
  • The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible, ed. Joel R. Beeke
  • The Reformation Study Bible (ESV), ed. R. C. Sproul
  • Notes on Exodus, Thomas L. Constable
  • The Two Tables of the Covenant, Meredith G. Kline, WTJ 22.2 (1960) 133–46
  • Ten Commandments, Two Tablets: The Shape of the Decalogue, David L. Baker, Themelios 30.3 (2005)
  • The Division of Old Testament Law, Tom Hicks, Founders Ministries (2016)
  • Covenant Theology: The Law, Justification, and Sanctification, Tom Hicks, Founders Ministries (2018)
  • The Moral Law Doth For Ever Bind All, Jon English Lee, Founders Journal 115
  • A Simple Defense of Sunday, the Lord's Day, as the Christian Sabbath, D. Scott Meadows, Herald of Grace (2023)
  • A Sabbath Remains: The Place of Hebrews 4:9 …, Robert P. Martin, Reformed Baptist Theological Review 1:2 (2004)
  • An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, John Owen
  • A Discourse of the Covenants, Nehemiah Coxe (1681)
  • The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)