Exodus 20:3

Bible in Basic English (1941)

You are to have no other gods but me.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֹֽ֣א יִהְיֶֽה־לְךָ֛֩ אֱלֹהִ֥֨ים אֲחֵרִ֖֜ים עַל־פָּנָֽ͏ַ֗י

Transliteration

lōʾ yihyeh-ləḵā ʾĕlōhîm ʾăḥērîm ʿal-pānāy

Grammar Details

• *lōʾ*: negative particle - not
• *yihyeh-ləḵā*: qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular + preposition with 2nd masculine singular suffix - there shall be to you
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: masculine plural noun - gods
• *ʾăḥērîm*: adjective, masculine plural - other
• *ʿal-pānāy*: preposition + noun construct with 1st singular suffix - before my face/presence

Word Meanings

• *lōʾ yihyeh-ləḵā*: you shall not have/there shall not be to you
• *ʾĕlōhîm ʾăḥērîm*: other gods/foreign deities
• *ʿal-pānāy*: before me/in my presence/in preference to me/against my face

Referenced Verses

• Deut 5:7 : 7 You are to have no other gods but me.
• Deut 6:5 : 5 And the Lord your God is to be loved with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
• Deut 6:14 : 14 Do not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples round about you;
• Ps 81:9 : 9 There is to be no strange god among you; you are not to give worship to any other god.
• Jer 25:6 : 6 Do not go after other gods to be their servants and to give them worship, and do not make me angry with the work of your hands, causing evil to yourselves.
• Jer 35:15 : 15 And I have sent you all my servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them, saying, Come back, now, every man from his evil way, and do better, and go not after other gods to become their servants, and you will go on living in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but your ears have not been open, and you have not given attention to me.
• Matt 4:10 : 10 Then said Jesus to him, Away, Satan: for it is in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God and be his servant only.
• Isa 46:9 : 9 Let the things which are past come to your memory: for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me;
• Ps 73:25 : 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? and having you I have no desire for anything on earth.
• Isa 44:8 : 8 Have no fear, be strong in heart; have I not made it clear to you in the past, and let you see it? and you are my witnesses. Is there any God but me, or a Rock of whom I have no knowledge?
• Isa 26:4 : 4 Let your hope be in the Lord for ever: for the Lord Jah is an unchanging Rock.
• Exod 15:11 : 11 Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? who is like you, in holy glory, to be praised with fear, doing wonders?
• Eph 5:5 : 5 Being certain of this, that no man who gives way to the passions of the flesh, no unclean person, or one who has desire for the property of others, or who gives worship to images, has any heritage in the kingdom of Christ and God.
• 1 John 5:20-21 : 20 And we are certain that the Son of God has come, and has given us a clear vision, so that we may see him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 My little children, keep yourselves from false gods.
• Rev 19:10 : 10 And I went on my face before his feet to give him worship. And he said to me, See you do it not: I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers who keep the witness of Jesus: give worship to God: for the witness of Jesus is the spirit of the prophet's word.
• Rev 22:9 : 9 And he said to me, See you do it not; I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book: give worship to God.
• Phil 3:19 : 19 Whose end is destruction, whose god is the stomach, and whose glory is in their shame, whose minds are fixed on the things of the earth.
• Col 2:18 : 18 Let no man take your reward from you by consciously making little of himself and giving worship to angels; having his thoughts fixed on the things which he has seen, being foolishly lifted up in his natural mind,
• 1 Cor 8:6 : 6 There is for us only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we are for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we have our being through him.
• Exod 20:23 : 23 Gods of silver and gods of gold you are not to make for yourselves.
• Isa 43:10 : 10 You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have taken for myself: so that you may see and have faith in me, and that it may be clear to you that I am he; before me there was no God formed, and there will not be after me.
• Josh 24:18-24 : 18 And the Lord sent out from before us all the peoples, the Amorites living in the land: so we will be the servants of the Lord, for he is our God. 19 And Joshua said to the people, You are not able to be the servants of the Lord, for he is a holy God, a God who will not let his honour be given to another: he will have no mercy on your wrongdoing or your sins. 20 If you are turned away from the Lord and become the servants of strange gods, then turning against you he will do you evil, cutting you off, after he has done you good. 21 And the people said to Joshua, No! But we will be the servants of the Lord. 22 And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have made the decision to be the servants of the Lord. And they said, We are witnesses. 23 Then, he said, put away the strange gods among you, turning your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel. 24 And the people said to Joshua, We will be the servants of the Lord our God, and we will give ear to his voice.
• 2 Kgs 17:29-35 : 29 And every nation made gods for themselves, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the towns where they were living. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 The Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites gave their children to be burned in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 So they went on worshipping the Lord, and made for themselves, from among all the people, priests for the high places, to make offerings for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They gave worship to the Lord, but they gave honour to their gods like the nations did from whom they had been taken as prisoners. 34 So to this day they go on in their old ways, not worshipping the Lord or keeping his orders or his ways or the law and the rule which the Lord gave to the children of Jacob, to whom he gave the name Israel; 35 And the Lord made an agreement with them and gave them orders, saying, You are to have no other gods; you are not to give worship to them or be their servants or make them offerings:
• Ps 29:2 : 2 Give to the Lord the full glory of his name; give him worship in holy robes.
• Isa 45:21-22 : 21 Give the word, put forward your cause, let us have a discussion together: who has given news of this in the past? who made it clear in early times? did not I, the Lord? and there is no God but me; a true God and a saviour; there is no other. 22 Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have salvation, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other.
• 1 Cor 8:4 : 4 So, then, as to the question of taking food offered to images, we are certain that an image is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one.