Deuteronomy 5:7

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Deuteronomy 5:7 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Deuteronomy 5:7 — American Standard Version

Context — Deuteronomy 5

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
7Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

What do historical commentaries say?

Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Compare Exodus 20:0 and notes. Moses here adopts the Ten Words as a ground from which he may proceed to reprove, warn, and exhort; and repeats them, with a certain measure of freedom and adaptation. Our Lord Mark 10:19 and Paul Ephesians 6:2-3 deal similarly with the same subject. Speaker and hearers recognized, however, a statutory and authoritative form of the laws in question, which, because it was familiar to both parties, needed not to be reproduced with verbal fidelity. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 The exhortation to observe the Sabbath and allow time of rest to servants (compare Exodus 23:12) is pointed by reminding the people that they too were formerly servants themselves. The bondage in…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“There being little said, concerning the spiritual sense of the Ten Commandments, in the notes on the twentieth of Exodus, I think it needful to add a few questions here, which the reader may answer between God and his own soul. Thou shalt have none other gods before me - Hast thou worshipped God in spirit and in truth? Hast thou proposed to thyself no end besides him? Hath he been the end of all thy actions? Hast thou sought for any other happiness, than the knowledge and love of God? Dost thou experimentally know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent? Dost thou love God? Dost thou love him with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength; so as to love…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Exo 20:3; Mat 4:10; Joh 5:23; Jo1 5:21 Deuteronomy 5:8”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification