Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 20:23
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
23. Cf. Exo 20:3-4 f.; and in the other codes Exo 34:17 (J), Lev 19:4 (H), Deu 4:15-18; Deu 27:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 23. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver] The expressions here are very remarkable. Before it was said, Ye shall have no other gods BEFORE me, al panai, Ex 20:3. Here they are commanded, ye shall not make gods of silver or gold itti WITH me, as emblems or representatives of God, in order, as might be pretended, to keep these displays of his magnificence in memory; on the contrary, he would have only an altar of earth-of plain turf, on which they should offer those sacrifices by which they should commemorate their own guilt and the necessity of an atonement to reconcile themselves to God. See Clarke on Ex 20:4.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
With me, i.e. to worship together with me; I will allow no companion; or, to me, as it follows, unto you; and Exo 20:24, unto me; and the particle eth is sometimes used for el, or lamed, as 1Sa 22:14; 2Ki 22:14; or, for me, either to represent my person, by comparing this with the parallel place, Deu 4:15,16, or to worship me by, as it is apparent that the Israelites afterwards did intend to worship Jehovah in the golden calf, and therefore Aaron calls the feast of the calf a feast to Jehovah, Exo 32:5, and that with the approbation of the people, whom he then complied with, and durst not resist.
Gods, i.e. idols or images, to whom you may give the name and worship of gods,
of silver, and consequently not of any other materials, as wood or stone: it is a synecdoche.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Ye shall not make with me,…. This is a proposition of itself, as appears by the accent Athnach placed at the end of it, which divides it from the following, and therefore “gods of silver” belong to the next clause or proposition; something seems to be wanting to complete the sense, which the Talmudists s and Jarchi after them supply thus,
“ye shall not make with me as the likeness of my ministers which minister before me on high;”
as the seraphim, ministering angels, c. as the sun, moon, and stars and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the words,
“ye shall not make, to worship, the likeness of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars, and of the planets, and of the angels that minister before me:”
or rather, “ye shall not make any likeness with me”, or any likeness of me; and so the words stand connected with the preceding verse, that since they only saw the cloud and fire, and perceived the voice of God from thence, but saw no likeness or similitude of him, therefore they were not to make any under a pretence of worshipping him with it, or in it, or by it; and so Ben Melech adds, by way of explanation, although your intention is to my service: “gods of silver and gods of gold ye shall not make unto you”; for so this clause is to be read: that is, images made of gold and silver, images of angels, or of the host of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, or of great men on earth, as kings or heroes, or of any creature in heaven, earth, or sea; these they were not to make unto them, in order to serve and worship them, or to worship God in them, or by them, or with them: the first images for idolatrous worship were made of gold and silver, because, being rich and glittering, they more affected the minds of the people, as the golden calf a little after made, and perhaps the gods of Egypt were such, at least some of them; wherefore this law against idolatry is repeated, because the people of Israel were prone unto it, and many of them had been ensnared with it in Egypt, upon every occasion were ready to relapse into it: or images made of meaner materials, as brass, wood, and stone, though not mentioned, are equally forbidden; for if those of richer materials were not to be made and worshipped, much less those of baser ones.
s T. Bab. Roshhashanah, fol. 24. 1. 2. Avoda Zara, fol, 43. 1. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(23) Ye shall not make with me gods of silver.The expression make with me is unusual, but does not seem to have any peculiar force. Gods of silver and gods of gold are specially forbidden, because it was to idolatry of this kind that the Israelites were specially inclined. The golden calf is no isolated phenomenon. Molten images of gods, generally of silver, sometimes of gold, were objects of worship to Israel throughout the ages which preceded the Captivity. Jeroboam set up molten images at Dan and Bethel (Kings 14:9; 2Ki. 17:16). Baal was worshipped under the semblance of a molten image (2Ch. 28:2) as were probably Ashtaroth, Chemosh, and Moloch. The animal worship of the Egyptians had no attractions for the Hebrews; they did not offer to images of stone or marble, like the Assyrians or the Greeks; much less was it their habit to bow down to stocks, like so many of the heathen nations around them. The molten image, generally completed by a certain amount of graving, was the form of idol which had most charms for them, and the more precious the material the more satisfied were they to worship it. (Comp. Isa. 30:22; Isa. 42:17; Jer. 10:14; Hos. 13:2, &c.). Occasionally indeed they overlaid wood or stone with plates of gold or silver, to produce an idol (Hab. 2:19); but such images were at once less common and held in less account.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Make with me As if to place by the side of me as images and representations of my nature .
Gods of silver This is, for substance, a repetition of the second commandment . See notes above, on Exo 20:4. It receives a new emphasis from the fact that Jehovah himself had now spoken from heaven .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 20:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
Ver. 23. Ye shall not male with me gods. ] Say we of such petty deities as that heathen did, Contemno minutulos istos deos, modo Iovem (Iehovam) mihi propitium habeam. I slight them all.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 20:3-5, Exo 32:1-4, 1Sa 5:4, 1Sa 5:5, 2Ki 17:33, 2Ki 17:41, Eze 20:39, Eze 43:8, Dan 5:4, Dan 5:23, Zep 1:5, 1Co 10:21, 1Co 10:22, 2Co 6:14-16, Col 2:18, Col 2:19, 1Jo 5:20, 1Jo 5:21, Rev 22:15
Reciprocal: Exo 32:4 – fashioned Exo 32:8 – which I Exo 32:31 – made Lev 19:4 – molten gods Lev 26:1 – Ye shall Deu 27:15 – maketh Jos 24:23 – put away Jdg 17:3 – a graven image Jer 25:6 – General Dan 3:1 – made Act 15:20 – from pollutions