Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 22:20
He that sacrificeth unto [any] god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
20. Sacrifice by an Israelite to any god save Jehovah to be punished with the ban. Jehovah is a ‘jealous God’ (Exo 20:5), who does not tolerated the worship of any other god beside Himself.
utterly destroyed ] banned or devoted. The ‘ban’ ( rem) was an archaic institution, often alluded to in the OT. A city or nation that was hostile to Jehovah was ‘banned,’ or ‘devoted’ (etymologically, as Arabic shews, separated or set apart 1 [189] ), i.e. given over to Him as a form of offering, human beings being destroyed, with or without the cattle and spoil as well, according to the gravity of the occasion. For examples, see Deu 2:34 f., Exo 3:6 f., Exo 7:2, Exo 13:12-18 (an idolatrous Isr. city to be ‘devoted’), Jos 6:17-19; Jos 6:21, Jdg 1:17; Jdg 21:11, 1Sa 15:3; 1Sa 15:9. Here the ‘ban’ is to be put in force against the Israelite who is disloyal to Jehovah. The ban was also a Moabite institution. Mesha in his inscription (see DB. s.v. Moab, or EB. s.v. Mesha), ll. 16 18 tells us how, after he had carried off the ‘vessels of Yahweh’ from the town of Nebo (Num 32:38), and dragged them before Chemosh, he slew 7000 Israelite prisoners, for he had ‘devoted’ the city to Ashtor-Chemosh (cf. Num 21:2 f.). See further DB. v. 619 b , EB. Ban.
[189] The root is the Arabic arama, to shut off, set apart, whence arm, the sacred enclosure round the Mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, and arm, the secluded part of a Mohammedan establishment, in which the women live, applied also to its occupants, i.e. the ‘harem.’
In AV. he r m was usually rendered ‘utterly destroy,’ and the corresponding subst. rem ‘cursed thing’ (Deu 7:26), or (in Joshua 6, Joshua 7.) ‘accursed thing’: but these renderings both express secondary ideas, besides being to all appearance entirely unrelated to each other: in RV. the verb, when applied to things, is rendered ‘devote’ (as Lev 27:29 AV.); when applied to human beings it is still rendered ‘utterly destroy,’ but ‘Heb. devote ’ has been added on the margin; and ‘devoted thing’ has been substituted for ‘cursed’ and ‘accursed thing’ (e.g. Jos 6:18; Jos 7:1 ff.): the connexion between the two cognate terms has thus been preserved throughout.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This was probably an old formula, the sense of which, on its ethical side, is comprised in the first and second commandments.
Shall be utterly destroyed – The Hebrew word here used is charam (i. e. devoted). See Lev 27:28.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Utterly destroyed.] The word cherem denotes a thing utterly and finally separated from God and devoted to destruction, without the possibility of redemption.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Sacrificeth, or otherwise worshippeth, as appears from Deu 17:2-5, and many other places. One act of worship put for all by a very familiar synecdoche.
Destroyed, Heb. anathematized, i.e. esteemed execrable, and as such destroyed without mercy. See Deu 13:15; 18:20.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
He that sacrificeth unto [any] god,…. To Elohim, to strange gods, to the idols of the people, as the Targum of Jonathan; to the Egyptian deities, to the gods of the Moabites, Amorites, Edomites, Canaanites, Philistines, or any other: Aben Ezra says the word Elohim comprehends angels; and by the exceptive clause it is plain it takes in all that had been, were, or ever would be the objects of idolatrous worship, especially the sun, moon, and stars, the principal objects of worship in those days:
save unto the Lord only; the true and living God; Jehovah, the self-existent, immutable, and eternal Being; the Creator of all things, the possessor of heaven and earth, the most high God, and the only one: sacrificing takes in all the acts of service performed to an idol as to the true God, as offering incense, pouring out a libation, as well as slaying and burning an animal as Jarchi observes: he shall be utterly destroyed; be accursed, anathematized, devoted to destruction, as the word used signifies: the Targum of Jonathan is,
“he shall be killed with the sword, and his goods consumed,”
not only lose his life but his substance, and so be destroyed in body and estate.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Whoever offered sacrifice to strange gods instead of to Jehovah alone, was liable to death. he shall be banned, put under the ban ( cherem ), i.e., put to death, and by death devoted to the Lord, to whom he would not devote himself in life (cf. Lev 27:29, and my Archologie, 70).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verse 20:
Sacrifices were acts of worship. To offer a sacrifice to any god other than Jehovah was to renounce Him. This was a capital offense.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(20) He that sacrificeth.Sacrifice in this place represents worship generally, being its most essential act. Elsewhere the death-penalty is affixed to any acknowledgment of false gods (Deu. 13:1-16).
Shall be utterly destroyed.Heb., Shall be devoted, i.e., devoted to destruction.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 22:20. He that sacrificeth A particular species of worship is here used to express worship in general: it means, he that payeth any religious honour,shall be utterly destroyed; delivered to death, Deu 13:15; Deu 17:2-5. Houbigant observes here, that the Samaritan reading is the best: he that sacrificeth to strange gods, shall be devoted to death.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
This refers to the first table. See Exo 20:5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 22:20 He that sacrificeth unto [any] god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
Ver. 20. He shall be utterly destroyed. ] As an execrable and accursed creature.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
sacrifleeth. Hebrew. cabach. App-43.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
sacrificeth: Num 25:2-4, Num 25:7, Num 25:8, Deu 13:1-15, Deu 17:2-5, Deu 18:20
utterly: Num 21:3, Jos 23:15, Jos 23:16
Reciprocal: Lev 27:28 – no devoted Num 25:5 – Slay ye Deu 13:15 – destroying it utterly 2Ki 23:20 – he slew 2Ch 15:13 – whosoever