*Scripture verses covered in this section's commentary are noted in italics

Home / Commentary / Exodus / Exodus Chapter 20 / Exodus 20:22-26

Exodus 20:22-26 meaning

Many scholars think that vv. 22 – 26 comprise the first part of a larger section called “the Book of the Covenant” (Exodus 24:7), which starts here and extends through Exodus 23:33. It contains forty-two judgments (Exodus 21:1 – 23:12) and ends just like it begins – a prohibition against idolatry (Exodus 23:13).

In an appropriate introduction, this first section of the Book of the Covenant concerns how the people were to worship the LORD. Having displayed His holiness in sight of all the people, the LORD then defined the proper format for worship. He prohibited any manufacture of idols representing Him or any other god that they could imagine. Worship was to involve sacrifice on an earthen altar, taking special care not to provide an occasion for any immorality.

In vv. 22 – 23, the LORD commands His people against any form of idolatry. The LORD instructed Moses to say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. In the Hebrew text, the phrase from heaven is first, implying it is to be emphasized. This was the basis for what follows. The LORD spoke directly from heaven, not through some inanimate object like an idol. The LORD did not (and still does not) want to be identified with any created object. He is the Creator, not a creation.

For this reason, He commanded in v. 23 that the Israelites not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. This repeats the second commandment, which indicates how pivotal it was to impress this upon the minds of the people. A core requirement of self-governance is the rule of law, and that can only exist if there is a lawgiver that transcends mere humans. Humans must have an external accountability to be others-focused. Humans have a tendency to want idols, and the idols they make always provide moral authorization for whatever it was they want for themselves.

The commandment to avoid idols was repeated to show how important it was to worship the LORD and Him alone. There is no other philosophical foundation that will lead people to believe it is in their best interest to love their neighbors as themselves. The phrase besides Me in the clause You shall not make other gods besides Me has been rendered “with me” or “alongside me” in other translations. It probably has a double significance.

They were not to create idols representing other gods and they were not to create an idol representing the LORD. He is in heaven reigning over nature, and not a force of nature (like most other pagan gods imagined by humans). Representing Him as an idol lowers Him to the level of His creation. God must be honored as the Creator, and as Creator, recognized as the ultimate authority, who is the Lawgiver—a Lawgiver who has declared that humans flourish best when they self-govern, and serve one another.

Verses 24 – 26 define how to worship the LORD Who has spoken from heaven. It involved making an altar of earth for Me. The idea here is that the altar was not to be ornate as the pagan altars were. It was to just be made of earth, and not feature human craftsmanship. On this altar, the LORD stated to Israel that you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. Burnt offerings dealt with forgiveness for the sins of the people, restoring relational fellowship between the LORD as Suzerain, and the people as vassals. Peace offerings dealt with praising and thanking the LORD and maintaining the fellowship of the people with their Sovereign LORD.

These sacrifices were to be carried out in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. Remembering the LORD is to bring to mind all of who the LORD is and what He has done. The result of such worship was that He will come to you and bless you. A likely part of the promised blessing would come from the natural effect of choosing gratitude. Grateful people are happy people. Another likely part of the promised blessing would come from the consequence of people being in fellowship with God, the Lawgiver, and following His command for people to love their neighbors as themselves. Both create a community that is healthy and prosperous.

Alternately, in v. 25, the LORD said that if you make an altar of stone for Me (note the repetition of the phrase for Me as in v. 24), you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. The reason for not using cut stones is likely related to pagan practices. Pagan altars made of stone were made of cut, ornate stones that emphasized human effort or control. The worship of God was to emphasize the personal interaction of a true and living God with His people. Strict avoidance was urged for any semblance of pagan practices that created an illusion that people could manipulate or control deities to achieve their own ends

Thus, whether an altar was made of earth or stone, its purpose was to worship the LORD. The altar was not about the altar itself or the efforts of the altar makers—it was (and still is) about worshipping the Maker of all things.

Verse 26 contains the last stipulation of worship. The LORD warned that the people should not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it. This last stipulation concerns the possibility of immorality when everyone’s minds should be on the LORD and worshipping Him.

Some pagan religions of the Ancient Near East (Sumerians and others) had priests that would perform their ceremonies completely naked. The Egyptian priests were scantily clad when performing their rituals. There was a close connection between sexual immorality and paganism. This could also be seen in Canaanite worship. The emphasis here is completely opposite of pagan practice. Even the potential of an inadvertent exposing of nakedness is forbidden.

To sum up, there should not be any hint of pagan practices in the worship of the LORD of heaven. In order to serve their appointed function as a priestly nation, demonstrating to the surrounding nations that living in a self-governing manner, loving and serving one another, Israel must keep their covenant with the LORD. This will not be possible unless they choose to keep His commands. A necessary part of keeping His commands is to continually recognize the authority and reality of the LORD their God, and avoid any synchronism with the pagan practices of the surrounding nations.

Biblical Text:
²²Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.²³You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. ²⁴You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. ²⁶And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

Check out our other commentaries:

Romans 2:8 meaning
God’s judgment comes for both the good and the bad things we do on this earth. For the believer, this is not a judgment related......
Matthew 11:10-15 meaning
Jesus continues His affirmation of John the Baptizer and his role as the forerunner to the Messiah. By extension Jesus is also testifying that He......
Daniel 7:19-22 meaning
Daniel asks the Interpreter about the boastful horn who wages a war against God’s people. Daniel sees that God will judge the horn and give......
Daniel 9:7-11 meaning
While praying to God, Daniel emphasizes the righteousness of the Lord contrasted with the sinfulness of His people. Daniel, an exile, admits that God’s punishment......
Ecclesiastes 2:18-23 meaning
Solomon examines the destiny of his legacy and the intrinsic value of his hard work, and despairs because he will leave it all to those......

Additional Resources

Book Theme

The book of Exodus is the second book of the Torah (“law”). It continues the story of Genesis concerning the migration of the family of Jacob (the Israelites) to Egypt (Genesis 50). It describes the commissioning of Moses and Aaron as God’s representatives on earth to accomplish God’s deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land (the land of Canaan). It also relates the miraculous deliverance from Egypt beginning with the plagues on Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. It then describes the journey to Mount Sinai and the establishment of the Mosaic covenant with the Israelites. The last part of the book involves the specifications and building of the tabernacle – the place where the Lord Himself dwelt amongst His people.

In the book of Exodus, the focus shifts to the deliverance of God’s people.

Chapter Context

Exodus 20 contains the Ten Commandments and is seen by many to be the centerpiece of the Mosaic Law. It is at least the foundation for all the other laws and statutes found in the Law. They are repeated in Deuteronomy 5 for the succeeding generation of Israelites just prior to entering the Promised Land.

Many other civilizations in the Ancient Near East had law codes, the most famous being the code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian code of law of ancient Mesopotamia (around 1700 B.C). Hammurabi was a despot, a ruler over Babylon who inherited his reign. The black stone stele discovered by archeologists depicts Hammurabi receiving the law from a Babylonian god, presumably intended to depict divine authority having been bestowed upon both the law as well as Hammurabi.

There are similarities. As a general principle God communicates to people in formats that are already familiar. The Mosaic law differs substantially in that there is no attempt to establish Moses as a ruler, with a successive dynasty. The Ten Commandments and following laws clearly establish a system intended to be self-governing, where the people acknowledge God directly and individually as their king, or ruler.

God had already established Himself as the Suzerain (ruler) over Israel when He made the covenant with them. Moses serves as an intermediary, and as a sort of supreme court in the settlement of disputes. But the legislative branch of government is retained by God, and the executive branch is delegated to the people. The people also judge one another, based on jurisprudence of multiple witnesses. The people keep their covenant with God by choosing to treat other Israelites in a loving manner.

The LORD gave the Law of Moses to establish self-governance as a superior way of living, and appointed Israel to serve a priestly function to demonstrate effective living to its neighbors. Naturally, a realm where each person respects and serves others will be a superior place to dwell.

The New Testament mentions the Mosaic Law a number of times. A few examples:

The Law is something Christ came to fulfill (Matthew 5:17)
The Law is summed up with the phrase “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you” – demonstrating the Law’s intent was to create a culture of self-governance and mutual love and service (Matthew 7:12).
This self-governance and mutual service principle as the core reason for the Law is repeated in Romans 13:10, which says “love is the fulfillment of the law”
To put in written form what God wrote on the heart/conscience of humanity (Romans 2:15)
The Law brings the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20)
“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4)
The Law is “our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).
The Law is perfect, and leads to liberty (James 1:25)

Exodus 20 can be outlined as follows:

The Ten Commandments (20:1 – 17)
The Peoples’ Reaction (20:18 – 21)
The Book of the Covenant Prologue (20:22 – 26)

After the preamble and the prologue (vv. 1–2), the LORD gives Moses the Ten Commandments. They are described in the remaining verses in this section (vv. 3 – 17). They can be split into two parts. The first part, commandments 1 – 5, establish the LORD as the Supreme Ruler, the ultimate authority and Lawgiver. God is the Suzerain of the People. The fifth commandment appoints parents to stand in for God as the authority over children, until they reach an age to relate directly to God.

The last five commandments make up the second part, and set forth what the Suzerain (ruler) over Israel desires: that the Israelites treat one another in a loving and respectful manner. It is interesting to point out that nine of the ten commandments are repeated in the New Testament. This is not a surprise since the New Testament claims on numerous occasions that by walking in faith, or walking in the Spirit, the Law is fulfilled (Romans 8:4;13:8; Galatians 5:14). The only law not included in the New Testament in the form of a command is keeping the Sabbath. However, Jesus endorsed the Sabbath principle, saying that the Sabbath was intended to bless humans, not to be a burden for them (Mark 2:27).

Exodus 20:22-26 meaning

Check out our other commentaries:

Romans 2:8 meaning

Matthew 11:10-15 meaning

Daniel 7:19-22 meaning

Daniel 9:7-11 meaning

Ecclesiastes 2:18-23 meaning

Additional Resources

Book Theme

Chapter Context

Maps and Charts

Videos

The Bible Project - Exodus Summary Pt. 1

The Bible Project - Exodus Summary Pt. 2

Download Commentary