Internet Verse Search Commentaries Word Analysis ITL - draft

Exodus 20:3

NETBible	“You shall have no¹ other gods before me.²
NIV © biblegateway Exo 20:3	"You shall have no other gods before me.
NASB © biblegateway Exo 20:3	"You shall have no other gods before Me.
NLT © biblegateway Exo 20:3	"Do not worship any other gods besides me.
MSG © biblegateway Exo 20:3	No other gods, only me.
BBE © SABDAweb Exo 20:3	You are to have no other gods but me.
NRSV © bibleoremus Exo 20:3	you shall have no other gods before me.
NKJV © biblegateway Exo 20:3	"You shall have no other gods before Me.
[+] More English


KJV	Thou shalt have no other <0312> gods <0430> before me <06440>_.
NASB © biblegateway Exo 20:3	"You shall have <01961> no <03808> other <0312> gods <0430> before <05921> <6440 > Me.
LXXM	ouk <3364> ADV esontai <1510> V-FMI-3P soi <4771> P-DS yeoi <2316> N-NPM eteroi <2087> A-NPM plhn <4133> ADV emou <1473> P-GS
NET [draft] ITL	“You shall have no <03808> other <0312> gods <0430> before <06440> me.
HEBREW	ynp <06440> le <05921> Myrxa <0312> Myhla <0430> Kl <0> hyhy <01961> al (20:3) <03808>

NETBible

“You shall have no¹ other gods before me.²

NET Notes

¹tn The possession is expressed here by the use of the lamed (ל) preposition and the verb “to be”: לֹא־יִהְיֶה לְךָ (lo’ yihyeh lÿkha, “there will not be to you”). The negative with the imperfect expresses the emphatic prohibition; it is best reflected with “you will not” and has the strongest expectation of obedience (see GKC 317 §107.o). As an additional way of looking at this line, U. Cassuto suggests that the verb is in the singular in order to say that they could not have even one other god, and the word “gods” is plural to include any gods (Exodus, 241).

²tn The expression עַל־פָּנָי (’al-panay) has several possible interpretations. S. R. Driver suggests “in front of me,” meaning obliging me to behold them, and also giving a prominence above me (Exodus, 193-94). W. F. Albright rendered it “You shall not prefer other gods to me” (From the Stone Age to Christianity, 297, n. 29). B. Jacob (Exodus, 546) illustrates it with marriage: the wife could belong to only one man while every other man was “another man.” They continued to exist but were not available to her. The point is clear from the Law, regardless of the specific way the prepositional phrase is rendered. God demands absolute allegiance, to the exclusion of all other deities. The preposition may imply some antagonism, for false gods would be opposed to Yahweh. U. Cassuto adds that God was in effect saying that anytime Israel turned to a false god they had to know that the Lord was there – it is always in his presence, or before him (Exodus, 241).