Exodus 20:4

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, etc.] An image of anything graven by art or man’s device, cut out of wood of stone, and so anything that was molten, or cast into a mould or form, engraved by men, and this in order to be worshipped; for otherwise images of things might be made for other uses and purposes, as the cherubim over the mercy seat, and the brazen serpent, and images and impressions on coin, which we do not find the Jews themselves scrupled to make use of in Christ’s time on that account; though they vehemently opposed the setting up any images of the Caesars or emperors in their temple, because they seemed to be placed there as deities, and had a show of religious…”

“Thou shalt not make . . . any graven image . . . thou shalt not bow down thyself to them--that is, "make in order to bow." Under the auspices of Moses himself, figures of cherubim, brazen serpents, oxen, and many other things in the earth beneath, were made and never condemned. The mere making was no sin--it was the making with the intent to give idolatrous worship.”

“The Hebrew name which is rendered in our King James Version as the ten commandments occurs in Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 10:4. It literally means “the Ten Words.” The Ten Commandments are also called the law, even the commandment Exodus 24:12, the words of the covenant Exodus 34:28, the tables of the covenant Deuteronomy 9:9, the covenant Deuteronomy 4:13, the two tables Deuteronomy 9:10, Deuteronomy 9:17, and, most frequently, the testimony (e. g. Exodus 16:34; Exodus 25:16), or the two tables of the testimony (e. g. Exodus 31:18). In the New Testament they are called simply the commandments (e. g. Matthew 19:17). The name decalogue is found first in Clement of Alexandria,…”

“20:4 Not making an image of God is the first step toward recognizing that he is transcendent—that he is the Creator of the universe and distinct from it. To represent God as something in creation was inevitably to end up worshiping the creation rather than the Creator, and this immorality had deadly consequences (Rom 1:18-25).”

“Exo 32:1, Exo 32:8, Exo 32:23, Exo 34:17; Lev 19:4, Lev 26:1; Deu 4:15-19, Deu 4:23-25, Deu 5:8, Deu 27:15; Kg1 12:28; Ch2 33:7; Psa 97:7, Psa 115:4-8, Psa 135:15-18; Isa 40:18-20; Isa 42:8, Isa 42:17, Isa 44:9-20, Isa 45:16, Isa 46:5-8; Jer 10:3-5, Jer 10:8, Jer 10:9, Jer 10:14-16; Eze 8:10; Act 17:29, Act 19:26-35; Rom 1:23; Rev 9:20, Rev 13:14, Rev 13:15, Rev 14:9-11; Rev 16:2 Exodus 20:5”

“The Second Word. - To the prohibition of idolatrous worship there is linked on, as a second word, the prohibition of the worship of images. "After declaring in the first commandment who was the true God, He commanded that He alone should be worshipped; and now He defines what is His lawful worship" (Calvin). "Thou shalt not make to thyself a likeness and any form of that which is in heaven above," etc. עשׂה is construed with a double accusative, so that the literal rendering would be "make, as a likeness and any form, that which is in heaven," etc. פּסל, from פּסל to carve wood or stone, is a figure made of wood or stone, and is used in Jdg 17:3. for a figure representing Jehovah, and in…”