Exodus
Chapter 20
The Decalogue
God spoke all these words.
He said, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Do not have other gods before me.
Do not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven, or on the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth;
you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God; for the sin of the fathers, when they rebel against me, I punish the sons, the grandsons, and the great-grandsons;
but I show steadfast love until the thousandth generation for those who love me and keep my commandments.
Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave anyone who takes his name in vain unpunished.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
For six days you will labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath for the Lord your God. Do not work that day, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals, nor the stranger who is staying with you.
For 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; that is why the Lord has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land the Lord has given you.
Do not kill.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not give false witness against your neighbor.
Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his servant, man or woman, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is his.”
In the meantime, all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, heard the blast of the trumpet, and saw the mountain smoking. They trembled with fear and kept at a distance.
Then they said to Moses:
“You yourself speak to us, and we shall listen. But do not have God speak to us, lest we die.”
Moses answered the people:
“Do not be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that the fear of God may be with you, and that you may not sin again.”
So the people kept at a distance while Moses went forward to the cloud where God was.
Law of the Altar
The Lord spoke to Moses:
“Say this to the people of Israel: You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from the heavens.
Do not make any gods of silver or gold to stand beside me.
For me, you are to make an altar of earth, and on it, you will sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where you come to remember my name, I will come to you and bless you.
If you build an altar of stone, do not make it of cut stones, for you will defile it using tools.
And you will not ascend my altar on steps lest you expose your nakedness on it.
Commentaries
The Decalogue.
Framed within God’s covenant with his people, we see the giving of the Decalogue, also called the Ten Commandments, which aims to regulate the relationship between the people and God. Except for the first two, which relate directly to the relationship with God, the others focus on interpersonal ethics. In ancient times, the heads of families or tribes likely taught their children and youth using these simple rules. They provided straightforward ways to maintain harmony and order in group relations, later compiled and established at a specific time and place for Israel’s life: Sinai. These commands, rooted in popular wisdom, are supported by the authority of the Lord, whose qualities of transcendence and reverence, along with paternal and maternal love, justice, and mercy, were already understood by the people. For an Israelite, accepting this law did not mean giving up freedom or autonomy; instead, it served as a way to strengthen both.
Law on the Altar.
The Israelites live among neighbors who practice polytheism, yet they understand that the Lord is invincible, transcendent, and therefore cannot be represented in images. When Israel gave in to the temptation of depicting God, the prophets’ protests quickly followed. This rejection of visual representations of God serves as a teaching method to help people discover him in others and creation, rather than in a statue, linked to the ban on images, which is the law regarding the altar. This law originates from a later period in the people’s history, when they had already settled in the Promised Land and had shrines in many locations, all of which hold the same religious significance. The altar should not be overly ornate, as excessive decoration distracts from the proper focus of worship, which is the heart.