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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Exodus, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God’s Identity and Power
Redemption and Deliverance
The Covenant
Mediators and the Priesthood
Summary
Analysis
God addresses Israel through Moses, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt […] you shall have no other gods before me.”
In this chapter, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments the people must live by. God prefaces the commandments by identifying himself as the God who delivered them—a reminder that God’s deliverance of the people comes first, and their obedience follows from God’s initiative in saving them. Because of this, it’s especially fitting that the people be loyal only to God, not worshipping any others.
Themes
God commands the people not to make idols—whether they are in the form of anything in heaven, or on earth, or in the water under the earth. They must not worship such idols, because God is a jealous God.
The second commandment’s prohibition of idols (images used in worship) is counter-cultural because surrounding nations—like Egypt and Canaan—often associated their deities with natural phenomena. The exodus events (like the plagues and sea crossing) showed that God is all-powerful over nature. Worshiping God in a physical form would suggest that his people don’t believe that.
Themes
The people must not make “wrongful use” of God’s name.
This third commandment basically prohibits using God’s name in any disrespectful manner, or in an attempt to sanction something unholy. From the way God revealed his name (Yahweh) to Moses, it’s clear that he takes his name seriously.
Themes
They must remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. They have six days to accomplish all their work, but on the seventh day, neither they nor anyone in their households, their livestock, or aliens who live among them may do any work. This is because the LORD made all of creation in six days, then rested on the seventh.
The fourth commandment officially recognizes something that God has already begun teaching the people—to honor him by refraining from work on the seventh day. They currently do this by not collecting manna on the Sabbath. Here, God bases the commandment on his own rest from the work of creation (in Genesis 2).
Themes
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The people must honor their father and mother, so that their days in the promised land may be long.
The fifth commandment requires respect and care for one’s elders. The attached “promise” refers not just to a long lifespan, but to a life filled with God’s blessing.
Themes
They must not murder, commit adultery, steal, or “bear false witness” against a neighbor. They also must not covet anything belonging to a neighbor.
These commandments—the sixth through tenth—continue to deal not primarily with the people’s relationship to God (like the first four), but with their relationships with one another. “Bearing false witness” means speaking untruthfully about another person, especially in a way that perverts justice. Coveting means desiring what another person has.
Themes
The people are frightened by the thunder and lighting, the smoking mountain, and the trumpet. They tell Moses that if God speaks to them, they will die. Moses reassures them—God is only testing them and making sure that the people fear him so they won’t sin.
The thunder, lightning, and smoke probably remind the people of the plagues they saw in Egypt. The difference, as Moses explains, is that God was judging the Egyptians. Now, God is instilling reverent fear in the Israelites so that they can live with his blessing.
Themes
The LORD tells Moses to instruct the Israelites that they must not make gods of silver or gold. They only need to make an earthen altar and offer burnt sacrifices on it. If they make stone altars, they must not use hewn stones, because chiseled stones are profaned. They also must not go up steps to the altar, so that human nakedness won’t be exposed upon the altar.
At this point, Exodus moves from mostly narrative to mostly legislation (laws). While the Ten Commandments provide the broad outlines for behavior, more detailed laws are needed so that the Israelites can live together as a just society reflecting God’s own holy character. These laws are referred to as the Book of the Covenant. Sometimes, the justifications for specific laws aren’t clear (like the prohibition of chiseled stones). The prohibition of steps is probably connected to the risk of ritual impurity addressed in Chapter 19.
Themes
