“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Parallel Translations
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“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
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I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
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I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Exodus 20:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 5:6 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
- Hosea 13:4 “Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior.
- Leviticus 26:13 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you walk upright.
- Psalms 81:10 I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
- Exodus 13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
- Leviticus 19:36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 17:7-8 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you. I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”
- Deuteronomy 26:6-8 The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. Then we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers. Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs, and with wonders;
- Deuteronomy 7:8 but because Yahweh loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 5:15 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
- Leviticus 23:43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’ ”
- Leviticus 26:1 “ ‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am Yahweh your God.
- Deuteronomy 13:10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
- Deuteronomy 15:15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today.
- Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
- Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- Exodus 10:1-15 Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs among them; and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh.” Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’ ” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?” Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to Yahweh.” He said to them, “Yahweh be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.” Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again. For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
- Psalms 50:7 “Hear, my people, and I will speak. Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.
- Romans 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
- Romans 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, servants.
Or, servants.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 20:2 I [am] the LORD thy God, which…
Exo 20:2 I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Ver. 2. Which have brought thee.] God’s blessings are binders; and every deliverance a tie to obedience. {See Trapp (for summary of Law) on "Exo 20:17"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The only true God, and
The only true God, and
thy God by special title, having entered into covenant with thee, and chosen thee for my peculiar people, to protect, and rule, and bless thee above all others. God’s authority and right over them is fitly put in the front, as the foundation of all God’s commands, and their duties.
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Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt; and so by right of redemption thou art mine. Out of the house, i.e. the place; for so the word house is sometimes used, as Jdg 16:21.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I am the Lord thy God,.... This verse does…
I am the Lord thy God,.... This verse does not contain the first of these commands, but is a preface to them, showing that God had a right to enact and enjoin the people of Israel laws; and that they were under obligation to attend unto them with reverence, and cheerfully obey them, since he was the Lord, the eternal and immutable Jehovah, the Being of beings, who gives being to all creatures, and gave them theirs, and therefore had a right to give them what laws he pleased; and he was their God, their covenant God, in a special and peculiar manner, their King and their God, they being a Theocracy, and so more immediately under his government, and therefore had laws given them preferable to what any other people had:
which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt: where they had been afflicted many years, and reduced to great distress, but were brought forth with an high hand, and with great riches, and in a very wonderful and miraculous manner; so that they were under great obligations to yield a ready and cheerful obedience to the will of God:
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out of the house of bondage: or "servants" (b); that is, where they had been servants and slaves, but now were made free, and were become a body politic, a kingdom of themselves, under their Lord, King, Lawgiver, and Saviour, Jehovah himself, and therefore to be governed by laws of his enacting; and this shows that this body of laws was delivered out to the people of Israel, and primarily belong to them; for of no other can the above things be said.
(b) "servorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I am the Lord thy God - Herein, God…
I am the Lord thy God - Herein, God asserts his own authority to enact this law; and proposeth himself as the sole object of that religious worship which is enjoined in the four first commandments. They are here bound to obedience.
1. Because God is the Lord, Jehovah, self-existent, independent, eternal, and the fountain of all being and power; therefore he has an incontestable right to command us.
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2. He was their God; a God in covenant with them; their God by their own consent.
3. He had brought them out of the land of Egypt - Therefore they were bound in gratitude to obey him, because he had brought them out of a grievous slavery into a glorious liberty. By redeeming them, he acquired a farther right to rule them; they owed their service to him, to whom they owed their freedom. And thus, Christ, having rescued us out of the bondage of sin, is entitled to the best service we can do him. The four first commandments, concern our duty to God (commonly called the first-table.) It was fit those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love before he had a neighbour to love, and justice and charity are then only acceptable to God when they flow from the principles of piety.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Against mental or theoretic idolatry.
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
Against mental or theoretic idolatry.
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Verse 2. I am the LORD thy God] יהוה אלהיך Yehovah eloheycha. On the word JEHOVAH, which we here translate LORD, See Clarke on Ge 2:4, and "Ex 6:3". And on the word Elohim, here translated GOD, See Clarke on Ge 1:1. It is worthy of remark that each individual is addressed here, and not the people collectively, though they are all necessarily included; that each might feel that he was bound for himself to hear and do all these words. Moses laboured to impress this personal interest on the people's minds, when he said, De 5:3-4: "The Lord made this covenant with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day."
Brought thee out of the land of Egypt, &c.] And by this very thing have proved myself to be superior to all gods, unlimited in power, and most gracious as well as fearful in operation. This is the preface or introduction, but should not be separated from the commandment. Therefore, -
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 20:2. I am the Lord thy God —…
Exo 20:2. I am the Lord thy God — Herein God asserts his own authority to enact this law; and proposeth himself as the sole object of that religious worship which is enjoined in the four first commandments. They are here bound to obedience. 1st, Because God is the Lord, Jehovah, self-existent, independent, eternal, and the fountain of all being and power; therefore he has an incontestible right to command us. 2d, He was their God; a God in covenant with them; their God by their own consent. 3d, He had brought them out of the land of Egypt — Therefore they were bound in gratitude to obey him, because he had brought them out of a grievous slavery into a glorious liberty. By redeeming them, he acquired a further right to rule them; they owed their service to him to whom they owed their freedom. And thus Christ, having rescued us out of the bondage of sin, is entitled to the best service we can do for him. The first four commandments concern our duty to God, commonly called the first table. It was fit those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love before he had a neighbour to love, and justice and charity are then only acceptable to God when they flow from the principles of piety.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Thy God. By this endearing title, we are all…
Thy God. By this endearing title, we are all required to consecrate our whole hearts and souls to our only Maker and Redeemer; and therefore we must love God sincerely, and comply with all his commandments. This preface to the Decalogue, enforces the acts of faith, hope, charity, religion, &c. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain I am the Lord thy God--This is a preface…
I am the Lord thy God--This is a preface to the ten commandments--the latter clause being specially applicable to the case of the Israelites, while the former brings it home to all mankind; showing that the reasonableness of the law is founded in their eternal relation as creatures to their Creator, and their mutual relations to each other.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. I am the Lord thy God — Many…
2. I am the Lord thy God — Many of the Jews, as we have seen above, regard this verse as the first of the ten words, or commandments, but they are rather of the nature of an introduction, showing emphatically the origin and source of the commandments. As the Eternal God, the I AM of previous revelation, (Exo_3:14-15,) he appropriately announces his NAME, and mentions the redemption from Egypt as a ground of obligation for Israel to hear and keep his commandments. The singular form of the address, thy God, not your God, gives a particular individuality of personal appeal to this announcement. The same is to be noted in each of the commandments which follow. The redemption out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, was the greatest fact in Israel’s history, and he who wrought that wonderful deliverance is the author of this holy law, and directs its words to every individual of the nation.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. The Testimony (or attestation, averment, viz. of God’s…
2. The Testimony (or attestation, averment, viz. of God’s will; see on Exo_25:16): 36 times in P (cf. ibid.). Elsewhere in this sense only 2Ki_11:12 (but doubtfully: see Skinner in the Century Bible, and Barnes in the Cambr. Bible), and 2Ch_24:6 (as Num_17:7-8 al.).
2. Introduction. The commandments are introduced by the statement who it is that gives them: One, viz., who is Israel’s God and who has also been Israel’s benefactor; and who has thus both the right to impose them, and a claim upon Israel for obedience to them.
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Jehovah thy God] so Exo_20:5; Exo_20:7; Exo_20:10; Exo_20:12; Exo_15:26 (see note), Exo_23:19 = Exo_34:26, Exo_34:24, and frequently (more than 200 times) in Dt. Not elsewhere in Ex.—Nu.
which brought thee out, &c.] and consequently has a claim upon thee for gratitude and obedience; cf. Exo_13:3; Exo_13:9; Exo_13:14; Exo_13:16 : he same motive, also, Deu_5:15; Deu_6:12; Deu_8:14; Deu_13:5; Deu_13:10; Amo_2:10; Hos_13:4 (RVm.).
the house of bondage (lit. of slaves)] as Exo_13:3 (see note), 14; and often in Dt. (cf. esp. Deu_6:12, Deu_8:14, Deu_13:10, just quoted).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) I am the Lord thy God.—The binding nature…
(2) I am the Lord thy God.—The binding nature of commands upon the conscience depends upon the authority of the person who issues them. That there might be no dispute as to what the authority was in the case of the Decalogue, God prefaced the commands themselves by this distinct statement. By whomsoever they were communicated (see the first Note on Exo_20:1), they were the commands of Jehovah Himself.
Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.—Thus exhibiting at once Almighty power and the tenderest compassion and care. God desires the obedience which springs from love, not fear.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I am the Lord thy God. The ten precepts…
I am the Lord thy God. The ten precepts were prefaced by this distinct announcement of who it was that uttered them. God would have the Israelites clearly understand, that he himself gave them the commandments. It is only possible to reconcile the declarations of the New Testament, that the law was given by the ministration of angels (Gal_3:19; Heb_2:2) with this and other plain statements, by regarding God the Son as the actual speaker. As sent by his father, he too was, in a certain sense, an angel (i.e. , a messenger). Which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. God does not appeal to his authority as creator, but to his mercy and kindness as protector and deliverer. He would be obeyed by his people from a sentiment of love, not by fear. Out of the house of bondage. Compare Exo_13:3, Exo_13:14; and for the ground of the expression, see Exo_1:14 Exo_6:9.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 20:2 This sentence corresponds to the preamble in the…
20:2 This sentence corresponds to the preamble in the ancient covenant format. It gives the historical setting that makes such an agreement between two parties both possible and reasonable. We are told that the Lord your God was offering the covenant. It was not some unknown deity that offered this special relationship, but the God of Israel’s ancestors who had revealed his power and his care directly to them. Furthermore, that revelation was an act of gracious rescue on their behalf, demonstrating that he is the only God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.