Exodus 20:5
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to 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;
Exodus 20:5 in other translations
| BSB | You 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, |
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| WEB | you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, |
| ASV | thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me, |
| YLT | Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, am a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third generation, and on the fourth, of those hating Me, |
| DARBY | thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, Jehovah thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and to the fourth generation of them that hate me, |
| BBE | You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters; |
| Webster | Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; |
What does Exodus 20:5 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 20:4-5
4-5. Thou shalt not make ... any graven image ... thou shalt not bow down thyself to them--that is, "make in order to bow." Under the auspices of Moses himself, figures of cherubim, brazen serpents, oxen, and many other things in the earth beneath, were made and never condemned. The mere making was no sin--it was the making with the intent to give idolatrous worship.
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 20:3-11
The first four of the ten commandments, commonly called the FIRST table, tell our duty to God. It was fit that those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love, before he had a neighbour to love. It cannot be expected that he should be true to his brother, who is false to his God. The first commandment concerns the object of worship, JEHOVAH, and him only. The worship of creatures is here forbidden…
Exodus 20:5 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Exodus 20:5
- Deuteronomy 5:9
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,
- Numbers 14:18
The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
- Deuteronomy 4:24
For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
- Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
- Deuteronomy 6:15
(For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
- Joshua 24:19
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
- Psalms 109:14
Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
- Exodus 34:6-7
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
- Jeremiah 32:18
Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name,
- Nahum 1:2
God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
- Joshua 23:7
That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:
- Isaiah 65:6-7
Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.
Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
23:24; Le 26:1; Jos 23:7,16; Jud 2:19; 2Ki 17:35,41; 2Ch 25:14
Isa 44:15,19; Mt 4:9
for I.
34:14; De 4:24; 6:15; 32:21; Jos 24:19; Ps 78:58; Pr 6:34,35
Eze 8:3; Da 1:2; Na 1:2; 1Co 10:22
visiting.
34:7; Le 20:5; 26:29,39,40; Nu 14:18,33; 1Sa 15:2,3; 2Sa 21:1,6
1Ki 21:29; 2Ki 23:26; Job 5:4; 21:19; Ps 79:8; 109:14; Isa 14:20,21
Isa 65:6,7; Jer 2:9; 32:18; Mt 23:34-36
of them.
De 7:10; 32:41; Ps 81:15; Pr 8:36; Joh 7:7; 15:18,23,24; Ro 1:30
Ro 8:7; Jas 4:4
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Exodus 20:4
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:
- Exodus 20:5
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to 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;
- Exodus 20:6
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:5 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | No te inclinarás á ellas, ni las honrarás; porque yo soy Jehová tu Dios, fuerte, celoso, que visito la maldad de los padres sobre los hijos, sobre los terceros y sobre los cuartos, á los que me aborrecen, |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Tu ne t’inclineras point devant elles, et tu ne les serviras point; car moi, l’ Éternel, ton Dieu, je suis un ✶Dieu jaloux, qui visite l’iniquité des pères sur les fils, sur la troisième et sur la quatrième génération de ceux qui me haïssent, |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Du sollst dich nicht vor ihnen niederbeugen und ihnen nicht dienen; denn ich, Jehova, dein Gott, bin ein eifernder Gott, der die Ungerechtigkeit der Väter heimsucht an den Kindern, am dritten und am vierten Gliede derer, die mich hassen; |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Non adorabis ea, neque coles: ego sum Dominus Deus tuus fortis, zelotes, visitans iniquitatem patrum in filios, in tertiam et quartam generationem eorum qui oderunt me: |