Passage

Exodus 20.14

Book: Exodus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

12. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. 13. Thou shalt not kill.

14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal. 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Exodus 20:12-16, ASV)

WEB

12. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 13. “You shall not murder.

14. “You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal. 16. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:12-16, WEB)

KJV

12. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13. Thou shalt not kill.

14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal. 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (Exodus 20:12-16, KJV)

YLT

12. 'Honour thy father and thy mother, so that thy days are prolonged on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee. 13. 'Thou dost not murder.

14. 'Thou dost not commit adultery.

'Thou dost not steal. 16. 'Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony. (Exodus 20:12-16, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the LORD, speaking to Moses
Audience: Israel
Location: Mount Sinai
Time period: the exodus generation; the date is disputed between a fifteenth- and a thirteenth-century BC exodus

Theological reading

You shall not commit adultery.

The seventh commandment, and its scope in the Mosaic legislation is narrower than modern usage: na'aph concerns sexual relations involving a married woman, and the surrounding case law treats other sexual offences under different categories.

Jesus extends it inward at Matthew 5:27-28, everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery in his heart, which is the pattern of the Sermon's treatment of the Decalogue: the command is not relaxed but relocated to disposition.

The prophets then use the commandment as the governing metaphor for idolatry, with Israel as the unfaithful spouse, most extensively in Hosea, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. That metaphor is what makes the jealousy language of Exodus 34:14 intelligible: the covenant is figured as a marriage, so exclusive claim is the appropriate response rather than insecurity.

See OT Polygamy Objection Defeater and Biblical Sexual Ethics Objection Defeater.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

H1697 - dabar, via Exodus 20.1-17

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.