Exodus 20:4

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ¹  or any likeness ²  of anything ³  that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. ⁴ 

Exodus 20:23

20:23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me, ⁵  nor make gods of gold for yourselves. ⁶ 

[20:4]  ¹ tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.

[20:4]  ² tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).

[20:4]  ³ tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[20:23]  ⁵ tn The direct object of the verb must be “gods of silver.” The prepositional phrase modifies the whole verse to say that these gods would then be alongside the one true God.

[20:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “neither will you make for you gods of gold.”