Exodus 20:3 Meaning and Explanation
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
King James Version (KJV)
This study note uses an AI-assisted editorial workflow with source, duplication, and quality checks. See how verse explanations are prepared.
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The God who made us and saved us asks for the whole of our hearts, with nothing set beside Him.
The Context of Exodus 20:3
The first of the Ten Commandments, given at Mount Sinai. Israel has just come out of Egypt, a land crowded with many gods, and is on its way toward Canaan, where many more wait. Into that world God speaks His first claim.
What Does Exodus 20:3 Mean?
This is the foundation that holds up all the rest. God's people had lived for generations surrounded by Egypt's many gods, and ahead of them lay nations who worshipped sun and storm and carved stone. Here the LORD draws a clear line: no other gods before me, none set in His place, none placed beside Him in the heart. It is the call of One who knows that we become like whatever we worship, and who refuses to share us with rivals that cannot love us back. The command is jealous in the way a faithful love is jealous, guarding what is precious.
Behind this command is not a cold demand but a God who wants our whole hearts because He means to fill them. Jesus gathered the whole law into loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, the first commandment made tender. The things we are tempted to put in God's place always promise more than they give. He alone is worthy of first place, and He alone can satisfy the heart He made for Himself.
Exodus 20:3 in the Original Language
elohim (אֱלֹהִים), 'gods' -- the general word for deity; here "other gods" means any rival put in the place that belongs to God alone.
Where Exodus 20:3 Echoes in Scripture
Jesus draws this command up into its root when asked for the greatest commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Matthew 22:37, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5).
How to Apply Exodus 20:3 Today
So many things quietly compete for the first place in our hearts, and this command invites us to give that place to God alone. He asks for all of us because He made us for Himself and means to fill what He asks for. Nothing we might set beside Him can love us or satisfy us the way He does.