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Pentecost Season · Proper 22 · Year A

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

The Ten Commandments

October 4, 2026

Moses with the Ten Commandments, Rembrandt
Moses with the Ten Commandments, Rembrandt, 1659Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Rembrandt's Moses holds the tablets above his head, either to show them or to throw them down. The painting does not settle which, and the Hebrew is legible and correctly cut.These readings give the commandments as something handed over, and the painting is the instant of the handing over.RembrandtThe Dutch painter who treated scripture as something that happened to ordinary, badly lit people in rooms, and who painted his own face more than any artist before him.Gemäldegalerie, BerlinBerlin's old-master gallery, with one of the great collections of European painting before 1800, rebuilt after the division and reunification of the city.Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelMatt. 21:33-46Mt 21:33-46
EpistlePhil. 3:4b-14Phil 3:4b-14
Old TestamentExod. 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20Ex 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20Alt. OTIsa. 5:1-7Is 5:1-7
PsalterPs. 19Ps 19Alt. PsalmPs. 80:7-15Ps 80:7-15

Overview & Insights

“And God spoke all these words… you shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1–3)

Most people have some awareness of the Ten Commandments as a set of rules or laws but are less familiar with the significance of their relational context. Interpreters have also frequently examined the commands (law) in isolation from the narrative of Exodus 1–19. In the biblical context the commands are not abstractions of ethical principles. They are woven into a specific account in which the Lord had delivered, forgiven, redeemed, and formed the people. In the preceding chapter, the Lord had invited them into a special relationship as a “kingdom of priests” in relation to the world (19:5–6), and the people had accepted this invitation. The formation of Israel as the people of God began with their dramatic deliverance from bondage and continues in Exodus 20–23 with the giving of the first Sinaitic laws. The laws provided boundaries and instruction that protected and sustained the freedom introduced by the exodus.

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Take it further: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Commentary

Working Preacher: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20Working Preacher: Ex 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Working Preacher

Luther Seminary exegesis on the Decalogue as covenant that forms community.

CEP: Exodus 20:1-17CEP: Ex 20:1-17 Center for Excellence in Preaching

Reformed preaching commentary on the Ten Commandments and the God who gives them.

Enduring Word: Exodus 20Enduring Word: Ex 20 Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical notes on the chapter.

Precept Austin: Exodus 20 CommentaryPrecept Austin: Ex 20 Commentary Precept Austin

Verse-level study helps, Hebrew word notes, and gathered quotations.

BibleHub: Exodus 20:1 CommentariesBibleHub: Ex 20:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Aggregated classic commentaries on the giving of the Law.

Background & Word Study

Sefaria: Exodus 20 (Hebrew)Sefaria: Ex 20 (Hebrew) Sefaria

Hebrew text with English and classical Jewish commentary on the Decalogue.

BibleHub Interlinear: Exodus 20:1BibleHub Interlinear: Ex 20:1 BibleHub

Hebrew text with parsing for the commandments and the Sinai theophany.

The Church Fathers

Catena: Exodus 20Catena: Ex 20 Catena

Patristic comment chain gathering the Fathers on the chapter.

Questions preachers ask

What are these commandments?

Exodus 20 gives the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) at Sinai, the heart of the covenant: love of God in the first commands, love of neighbor in the rest. They come as gift to a people God has already redeemed from Egypt.

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