Exodus 20:5
New International Version
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

New Living Translation
You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

English Standard Version
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Berean Standard Bible
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

King James Bible
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;

New King James Version
you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

New American Standard Bible
You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

NASB 1995
“You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

NASB 1977
“You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Legacy Standard Bible
You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Amplified Bible
You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Christian Standard Bible
Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

American Standard Version
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,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
You shall not bow to them and you shall not serve them because I AM LORD JEHOVAH your God, a jealous God; he pays the love debts of fathers for the children unto three and unto four generations for those hating me;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them; for I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, recompensing the sins of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation to them that hate me,

Contemporary English Version
Don't bow down and worship idols. I am the LORD your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:

English Revised Version
thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD 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;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Never worship them or serve them, because I, the LORD your God, am a God who does not tolerate rivals. I punish children for their parents' sins to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.

Good News Translation
Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.

International Standard Version
You are not to bow down to them in worship or serve them, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the iniquity of the parents to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

JPS Tanakh 1917
thou shalt not bow down unto 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;

Literal Standard Version
You do not bow yourself to them, nor serve them: for I, your God YHWH, [am] a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third and on a fourth [generation] of those hating Me,

Majority Standard Bible
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

New American Bible
you shall not bow down before them or serve them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation ;

NET Bible
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me,

New Revised Standard Version
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,

New Heart English Bible
you must not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and upon the children's children, on the third and on the fourth [generation] of those who hate me,

Webster's Bible Translation
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 to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

World English Bible
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,

Young's Literal Translation
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,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Ten Commandments
4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.…

Cross References
John 9:2
and His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

Exodus 34:6
Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: "The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

Exodus 34:7
maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

Exodus 34:14
For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 5:9
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,


Treasury of Scripture

You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

bow down

Exodus 23:24
Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

Leviticus 26:1
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

Joshua 23:7,16
That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: …

for I

Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 6:15
(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

visiting

Exodus 34:7
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Leviticus 20:5
Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

Leviticus 26:29,39,40
And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat…

of them

Deuteronomy 7:10
And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

Deuteronomy 32:41
If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

Psalm 81:15
The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

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Exodus 20
1. The ten commandments are spoken by Jehovah
18. The people are afraid, but Moses comforts them
21. Idolatry is forbidden
23. Of what sort the altar should be














(5) Nor serve them.--The idolatry of the ancient world was, practically, not a mere worship of celestial beings through material representations of them, but an actual culture of the images themselves, which were regarded as possessed of miraculous powers. "I myself," says Arnobius, "not so very long ago, worshipped gods just taken out of the furnace, fresh from the anvil of the smith, ivory, paintings, stumps of trees swathed in bandages; and if I happened to cast my eyes on a polished stone smeared with olive oil, I made reverence to it, as if a power were present therein, and addressed myself in supplication for blessings to the senseless block" (Advers. Gentes, i. 29). "People pray," says Seneca, "to the images of the gods, implore them on bended knees, sit or stand long days before them, throw them money, and sacrifice beasts to them, so treating them with deep respect" (Ap. Lactant., ii. 2).

A jealous God.--Not in the sense in which He was regarded as "jealous" by some of the Greeks, who supposed that success or eminence of any kind provoked Him (Herod. iii. 40, 125), but jealous of His own honour, one who will not see "His glory given to another" (Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 48:11), or allow rivals to dispute His sole and absolute sovereignty. (Comp. Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 5:9; Deuteronomy 6:15; Joshua 24:19.) . . .

Verse 5. - Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them. Every outward sign of honour was shown to images in the ancient world. They were not regarded as emblems, but as actual embodiments of deity. There was a special rite in Greece (Theopoea) by means of which the gods were inducted into their statues, and made to take up their abodes in them. Seneca says of the Romans of his own day - "They pray to these images of the gods, implore them on bended knee, sit or stand long days before them, throw them money, and sacrifice beasts to them, so treating them with deep respect, though they despise the man who made them" (Ap. Lact. 2:2). I, the Lord thy God am a jealous God. God "will not give his glory to another" (Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 48:11), will not suffer a rival near his throne. He is not "jealous." as the Greeks thought (Herod. 7:10, § 5), of mere success, or greatness; but he is very jealous of his own honour, and will not have the respect and reverence, which is his due, bestowed on other beings or on inanimate objects. Compare with the present passage Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 5:9; Deuteronomy 6:15; Joshua 24:19; etc. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. Exception has been taken to the plain meaning of this passage by a multitude of writers, who dread the reproach of the sceptic, that the God of the Old Testament is a God careless of justice and bent upon revenge. But neither does society, nor does civil justice itself, regard the visiting of parents' sins upon their children as in all cases unjust. Society by its scorn punishes for their parents' transgressions the illegitimate, the children of criminals, the children - especially the daughters - of adulteresses. Civil justice condemns to forfeiture of their titles and their estates, the innocent children of those executed for treason. God again manifestly does by the laws which obtain in his moral universe, entail on children many consequences of their parents' ill-doing - as the diseases which arise from profligacy or intemperance, the poverty which is the result of idleness or extravagance, the ignorance and evil habits which are the fruit of a neglected education. It is this sort of visitation which is intended here. The children and grandchildren of idolaters would start in life under disadvantages. The vicious lives of their parents would have sown in them the seeds both of physical and moral evil. They would commonly be brought up in wrong courses, have their moral sense early perverted, and so suffer for their parents' faults. It would be difficult for them to rise out of their unhappy condition. Still, "each would bear his own iniquity." Each would "be judged by that he had, not by that he bad not." An all-wise God would, in the final award, make allowance for the disadvantages of birth and inherited disposition, and would assign to each that position to which his own conduct - his struggles, efforts, endeavours after right - entitled him. To say that the threat "applies only to such children as follow the sins of their fathers" Kalisch) is to empty the passage of all force. It applies to all; but the visitation intended consists in temporal disadvantages, not in the final award of happiness or misery.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You shall not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

bow down
תִשְׁתַּחְוֶ֥֣ה‪‬ (ṯiš·taḥ·weh)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7812: To depress, prostrate

to them
לָהֶ֖ם֮ (lā·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

or
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

worship them;
תָעָבְדֵ֑ם֒ (ṯā·‘ā·ḇə·ḏêm)
Verb - Hofal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

for
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I,
אָֽנֹכִ֞י (’ā·nō·ḵî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 595: I

the LORD
יְהוָ֤ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

your God,
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ (’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

am a jealous
קַנָּ֔א (qan·nā)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7067: Jealous

God,
אֵ֣ל (’êl)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 410: Strength -- as adjective, mighty, the Almighty

visiting
פֹּ֠קֵד (pō·qêḏ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 6485: To visit, to oversee, muster, charge, care for, miss, deposit

the iniquity
עֲוֺ֨ן (‘ă·wōn)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 5771: Iniquity, guilt, punishment for iniquity

of the fathers
אָבֹ֧ת (’ā·ḇōṯ)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1: Father

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

[their] children
בָּנִ֛ים (bā·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1121: A son

to
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the third
שִׁלֵּשִׁ֥ים (šil·lê·šîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8029: Pertaining to the third

and fourth [generations]
רִבֵּעִ֖ים (rib·bê·‘îm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 7256: Pertaining to the fourth

of those who hate Me,
לְשֹׂנְאָֽ֑י׃ (lə·śō·nə·’āy)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 8130: To hate


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OT Law: Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow yourself down (Exo. Ex)
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