Exodus 20:5

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel at Sinai, placing this clause between the idol prohibition (v. 4) and the promise of loving devotion to a thousand generations (v. 6). It is the negative consequence paired with the positive reward in the following verse.

The words — תָעָבְדֵם (ta'ave dem), from H5647, is glossed "be enticed to serve," suggesting not neutral service but being drawn or lured into it. The verb carries the sense of being pulled in rather than choosing freely.

The thread — Deuteronomy 5:9 repeats the clause in the Sinai restatement; Deuteronomy 4:24 calls God "a jealous God" outside the Decalogue; Numbers 14:18 pairs the same attribute with slowness to anger and forgiveness.

Why it lands — The verse makes the cost of idolatry intergenerational, not merely personal. It asks the reader to weigh a single act of bowing against consequences that reach three or four generations forward.

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

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 5:9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Numbers 14:18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14 For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Joshua 24:19 But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.
Deuteronomy 6:15 For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.
Exodus 34:6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
Joshua 23:7 So you are not to associate with these nations that remain among you. You must not call on the names of their gods or swear by them, and you must not serve them or bow down to them.
Psalms 109:14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
Isaiah 65:6 Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps,