Passage

Exodus 20.3

Book: Exodus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And God spake all these words, saying, 2. I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

"3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

"4. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5. thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me," (Exodus 20:1-5, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. God spoke all these words, saying, 2. “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

"3. “You shall have no other gods before me."

"4. “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5. you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me," (Exodus 20:1-5, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. And God spake all these words, saying, 2. I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ^{bondage: Heb. servants}"

"3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

"4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5. 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;" (Exodus 20:1-5, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. 'And God speaketh all these words, saying, 2. I [am] Jehovah thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants."

"3. 'Thou hast no other Gods before Me."

"4. 'Thou dost not make to thyself a graven image, or any likeness which [is] in the heavens above, or which [is] in the earth beneath, or which [is] in the waters under the earth. 5. Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, [am] a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third [generation], and on the fourth, of those hating Me," (Exodus 20:1-5, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Moses (traditional)
Audience: Israelite congregation post-Exodus
Location: Egypt → Sinai wilderness
Time period: events c. 1446-1445 BC; composed c. 1446-1406 BC

Theological reading

Key words

H0430 - elohim, elohim (Strong's H430). Also appears in: Genesis 1.1, Genesis 1.2, Genesis 1.14-19.

Quoted in

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.