Exodus 20:3
New International Version
“You shall have no other gods before me.

New Living Translation
“You must not have any other god but me.

English Standard Version
“You shall have no other gods before me.

Berean Standard Bible
You shall have no other gods before Me.

King James Bible
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

New King James Version
“You shall have no other gods before Me.

New American Standard Bible
“You shall have no other gods before Me.

NASB 1995
“You shall have no other gods before Me.

NASB 1977
“You shall have no other gods before Me.

Legacy Standard Bible
“You shall have no other gods before Me.

Amplified Bible
“You shall have no other gods before Me.

Christian Standard Bible
Do not have other gods besides me.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Do not have other gods besides Me.

American Standard Version
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
You shall not have other gods outside of me.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thou shalt have no other gods beside me.

Contemporary English Version
Do not worship any god except me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.

English Revised Version
Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Never have any other god.

Good News Translation
"Worship no god but me.

International Standard Version
You are to have no other gods besides me.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

Literal Standard Version
You have no other Gods before Me.

Majority Standard Bible
You shall have no other gods before Me.

New American Bible
You shall not have other gods beside me.

NET Bible
"You shall have no other gods before me.

New Revised Standard Version
you shall have no other gods before me.

New Heart English Bible
Do not have other gods before me.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

World English Bible
“You shall have no other gods before me.

Young's Literal Translation
'Thou hast no other Gods before Me.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Ten Commandments
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.…

Cross References
Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You--majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

Exodus 20:23
You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.

Exodus 32:8
How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, 'These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"

Exodus 34:14
For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 5:7
You shall have no other gods before Me.

Deuteronomy 6:14
Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.

2 Kings 17:35
For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, "Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them.


Treasury of Scripture

You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Deuteronomy 5:7
Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

Deuteronomy 6:5,14
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might…

Jump to Previous
Gods
Jump to Next
Gods
Exodus 20
1. The ten commandments are spoken by Jehovah
18. The people are afraid, but Moses comforts them
21. Idolatry is forbidden
23. Of what sort the altar should be














(3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.--Heb., There shalt be to thee no other god before me. The result is the same, whether we translate Elohim by "god" or "gods;" but the singular verb shows that the plural form of the name is a mere plural of dignity.

Before me--literally, before my face--means strictly, "side by side with me"--i.e., "in addition to me." God does not suppose that the Israelites, after all that He had done for them, would discard Him, and substitute other gods in His place, but fears the syncretism which would unite His worship with that of other deities. All polytheisms were syncretic, and readily enlarged their pantheons, since, when once the principle of unity is departed from, whether the plurality be a little greater or a little less cannot much signify. The Egyptian religion seems to have adopted Ammon at a comparatively late period from Arabia; it took Bar, or Baal, Anta, or Ana�tis, Astaret, or Astarte, Reshpu, or Reseph, &c., from Syria, and it admitted Totuu from Ethiopia. Israel, in after-times, fell into the same error, and, without intending to apostatise from Jehovah, added on the worship of Baal, Ashtoreth, Moloch, Chemosh, Remphan, &c. It is this form of polytheism against which the first commandment is directed. It asserts the sole claim of Jehovah to our religious regards.

Verse 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 required himself to obey the law, a mere general national obedience being insufficient. No one can fail to see how much the commands gain in force, through all time, by being thus addressed to the individual conscience. No other gods before me. "Before me" literally, "before my face," is a Hebrew idiom, and equivalent to "beside me," "in addition to me." The commandment requires the worship of one God alone, Jehovah - the God who had in so ninny ways manifested himself to the Israelites, and implies that there is, in point of fact, no other God. A belief in the unity of God is said to lie at the root of the esoteric Egyptian religion; but Moses can scarcely have derived his belief from this source, since the Egyptian notions on the subject were tinged with pantheism and materialism, from which the religion of Moses is entirely free. Outwardly the Egyptian religion, like that of the nations of Western Asia generally, was a gross polytheism; and it is against polytheistic notions that the first commandment raises a protest.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You
לְךָ֛֩‪‬ (lə·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

shall have
יִהְיֶֽה־ (yih·yeh-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

no
לֹֽ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

other
אֲחֵרִ֖֜ים (’ă·ḥê·rîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 312: Hinder, next, other

gods
אֱלֹהִ֥֨ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

before
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Me.
פָּנָֽ֗יַ‪‬ (pā·nā·ya)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6440: The face


Links
Exodus 20:3 NIV
Exodus 20:3 NLT
Exodus 20:3 ESV
Exodus 20:3 NASB
Exodus 20:3 KJV

Exodus 20:3 BibleApps.com
Exodus 20:3 Biblia Paralela
Exodus 20:3 Chinese Bible
Exodus 20:3 French Bible
Exodus 20:3 Catholic Bible

OT Law: Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 20:2
Top of Page
Top of Page