_AND GOD SPAKE ALL THESE WORDS, SAYING,_ And God spake all these words, х_ KAAL_ (H3605) _ HADªBAARIYM_ (H1697)] - words, precepts, or commandments, all bear the same meaning, and are used synonymously by the sacred writers [Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 5:4; Deuteronomy 18:19: cf. Ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_I AM THE LORD THY GOD, WHICH HAVE BROUGHT THEE OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE._ I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. God's right to give laws to the Hebrew nation is not founded upon His being the one only God, but upon His having by mirac... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME._ Thou shalt have no other gods before me - Heb., Let there not be, or, There shall not be to thee other gods х_ `AL_ (H5921) _ PAANAAYA_ (H6440)] over and above me [Septuagint, pleen emou, except, besides me]. Michaelis, who considers this commandment as in... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO 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 WATER UNDER THE EARTH:_ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, х_ PECEL_ (H6459), a carved image, either of wood or stone; Septuagint, e... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, х_ LASHAAW'_ (H7723)] - Thou shalt not utter the name of Yahweh to a falsehood; i:e., Thou shalt not swear fal... [ Continue Reading ]
_REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, TO KEEP IT HOLY._ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. To keep holy or sanctify the Sabbath is to appropriate it to sacred purposes; and the purport of this commandment is, that as the Sabbath properly signifies rest and leisure from servile work, and at the same ti... [ Continue Reading ]
_HONOUR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER: THAT THY DAYS MAY BE LONG UPON THE LAND WHICH THE LORD THY GOD GIVETH THEE._ Honour thy father and thy mother - by expressions of respect and reverence for them, as instrumentally the representatives of God, and by every token of attention and considerate regard f... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU SHALT NOT KILL._ Thou shalt not kill. 'Killing' is not what is prohibited, otherwise the judicial infliction of capital punishment, as well as the slaughter of an enemy in defensive war, would be unlawful-in which light these were certainly not regarded by the Israelites in the time of Moses... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY._ Thou shalt not commit adultery, х_ LO'_ (H3808) _ TIN'AAP_ (H5003)] - a word used with reference both to man and woman (cf. Leviticus 20:10); and although the verb is in the second person singular masculine, like the rest of these commandments, this precept must be... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU SHALT NOT STEAL._ Thou shalt not steal. This refers to the act of theft-the secret purloining or abstraction of any property belonging to another. This commandment was as necessary as the two preceding; because stealing is the natural propensity of the old man, and it is indulged in many ways... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOUR._ Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, х_ `EED_ (H5707) _ SHAAQER_ (H8267)] - false, lying evidence, not only in a court of justice, but in the common intercourse of life, by which another's life or character map be endang... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOUR'S HOUSE, THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOUR'S WIFE, NOR HIS MANSERVANT, NOR HIS MAIDSERVANT, NOR HIS OX, NOR HIS ASS, NOR ANY THING THAT IS THY NEIGHBOUR'S._ Thou shalt not covet, х_ LO'_ (H3808) _ TACHMOD_ (H2530)] - Thou shalt not desire; Septuagint, ouk epithu... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND ALL THE PEOPLE SAW THE THUNDERINGS, AND THE LIGHTNINGS, AND THE NOISE OF THE TRUMPET, AND THE MOUNTAIN SMOKING: AND WHEN THE PEOPLE SAW IT, THEY REMOVED, AND STOOD AFAR OFF._ And all the people saw the thunderings ... Some have maintained that only Moses and the elders were present at the givi... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND THEY SAID UNTO MOSES, SPEAK THOU WITH US, AND WE WILL HEAR: BUT LET NOT GOD SPEAK WITH US, LEST WE DIE._ And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us ... but let not God speak with us. It was the heads of the people and the elders who came (see their application to Moses fully detailed, Deuter... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND MOSES SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE, FEAR NOT: FOR GOD IS COME TO PROVE YOU, AND THAT HIS FEAR MAY BE BEFORE YOUR FACES, THAT YE SIN NOT._ And Moses said unto the people, Fear not. The leader himself, with all his experience and privileges, was equally panic-striken with the rest of the people. It is s... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND THE PEOPLE STOOD AFAR OFF, AND MOSES DREW NEAR UNTO THE THICK DARKNESS WHERE GOD WAS._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, THUS THOU SHALT SAY UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, YE HAVE SEEN THAT I HAVE TALKED WITH YOU FROM HEAVEN._ The Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel. The supplementary legislation which is recorded in the following section, extending from... [ Continue Reading ]
_YE SHALL NOT MAKE WITH ME GODS OF SILVER, NEITHER SHALL YE MAKE UNTO YOU GODS OF GOLD._ Ye shall not make with me gods of silver. It appears from Deuteronomy 4:14 that this injunction was a conclusion drawn from the scene on Sinai; that as no similitude of God was displayed then, they should not a... [ Continue Reading ]
_AN ALTAR OF EARTH THOU SHALT MAKE UNTO ME, AND SHALT SACRIFICE THEREON THY BURNT OFFERINGS, AND THY PEACE OFFERINGS, THY SHEEP, AND THINE OXEN: IN ALL PLACES WHERE I RECORD MY NAME I WILL COME UNTO THEE, AND I WILL BLESS THEE._ An altar of earth. This regulation was applicable to special or tempor... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND IF THOU WILT MAKE ME AN ALTAR OF STONE, THOU SHALT NOT BUILD IT OF HEWN STONE: FOR IF THOU LIFT UP THY TOOL UPON IT, THOU HAST POLLUTED IT._ IF THOU WILT MAKE ME AN ALTAR OF STONE ... NOT ... OF HEWN STONE. The reason was, that in the polish of a human chisel the emblematic idea suggested by th... [ Continue Reading ]
_NEITHER SHALT THOU GO UP BY STEPS UNTO MINE ALTAR, THAT THY NAKEDNESS BE NOT DISCOVERED THEREON._ Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar. This precaution was taken for the preservation of decorum, in consequence of the loose, wide, and flowing garments of the priests while discharging t... [ Continue Reading ]