Bible Strands
Exodus 20:23
You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Moses to relay a command to the Israelites immediately after declaring He spoke to them from heaven. This instruction directly precedes the directive to build an earth altar for sacrifices.
The words — The Hebrew תַעֲשׂוּ (ta'asu) means "you must make," paired with לֹא (lo') for "not," forming a strict prohibition. The phrase אֱלֹהֵי כֶסֶף וְאֱלֹהֵי זָהָב (elohei kesef ve'elohei zahav) literally denotes "gods of silver and gods of gold."
The thread — This prohibition against crafting metal deities intersects with later condemnations of Israel's idolatry in Ezekiel 20:39, 2 Kings 17:33, and Zephaniah 1:5. These passages trace a consistent pattern of syncretism where Yahweh is joined or replaced by foreign idols.
Why it lands — The text demands exclusive worship by forbidding the fabrication of substitute deities from precious metals. It requires the reader to reject any attempt to manufacture or accommodate lesser gods alongside the one who speaks from heaven.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 20:39 And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.
- 2 Kings 17:33 They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.
- Zephaniah 1:5 those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,
- Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
- Exodus 32:31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.
- 1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.
- 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know 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.
- Revelation 22:15 But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”
- 1 Samuel 5:4 But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD, with his head and his hands broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the torso remained.