20:3 First Commandment: No Other Gods. The worldview of the first commandment
is henotheistic, not monotheistic. It neither presupposes nor advocates the
belief that Yahweh is the only God. Rather, it presupposes just the reverse,
that the world is populated with gods. The law demands monolatry, namely the
exclusive worship of Yahweh by the Israelites. The basis of the command arises
from the reference to the exodus in the prologue. By redeeming the Israelites
from slavery, Yahweh now demands absolute allegiance from the Israelites. They
are God’s private possession (19:5). As a result, the first commandment forbids
the Israelites to worship other gods.
The syntax of the Hebrew has caught the attention
of interpreters. The verbal phrase is indefinite and indicates possession in
Hebrew, literally: “There will not be to you … other gods before my face.” The
absence of an imperative verb (i.e., “you shall not”) has prompted some
interpreters to conclude that v. 3 is not a command in itself, but an
introduction to the subsequent law against images (vv. 4–6). But even when v. 3
is interpreted as an independent law, Zimmerli concluded that the syntax
suggests a broad and general meaning. The reference to “other gods” (’ĕlōhîm ’aḥērîm) confirms the broad
perspective of the law. “Other gods” is a general term for all rival deities. It
is used most frequently in Deuteronomy (18 times), the Deuteronomistic History
(20 times), and Jeremiah (18 times). The Targums and selective modern
interpreters have preferred to translate the plural phrase “other gods” in the
singular, “another god,” to take away any possible emphasis on the existence of
other gods.
Deuteronomy aids in interpreting the henotheistic
worldview of the law. It states that many gods have been allotted to the
different nations (Deut 29:26). As a result, each god has a distinct cult
(8:19), rules over a particular nation (7:4; 13:2, 7, 13), and communicates
with different prophetic messengers (18:20). These gods may include the sun,
moon, or even the host of heaven (17:3). The first commandment does not require
the denial of such gods by the Israelites, as is evident in the rhetoric of
Second Isaiah (e.g., Isa 44:6–8; cf. 43:11–13). Rather, Yahweh demands the
absolute allegiance of the Israelite people in exchange for having redeemed
them from slavery in Egypt. The exodus therefore is less about freedom in a
modern democratic sense than it is about transferred slavery from Pharaoh to
Yahweh.
The additional phrase “before my face” (NRSV
“before me”) suggests that the law is focused on worship. To be “before the
face of God” indicates divine presence. The divine beings, including the Satan,
appear “before the face of God” in the heavenly council in the opening scenes
of the book of Job (Job 1:12; 2:7). Humans appear before the face of God in
worship. God states in a context of worship: “When you come to appear before me
[i.e., ‘before my face’]” (Isa 1:12). Hannah (1 Sam 1:22) enters the sanctuary
at Shiloh to appear before the face of Yahweh. Zechariah 8:21–22 describes a
pilgrimage to the Jerusalem temple where worshipers will appear before the face
of God. The law of cult centralization in Deuteronomy requires all males to
journey to the temple (“the place of the name”) to appear before the face of
Yahweh (Deut 16:16).
The focus on worship indicates that the first
commandment is aimed at monolatry. It states that no other gods can be
worshiped in Yahweh’s sanctuary. But the phrase also takes on a broader meaning
in Scripture. The worldview of henotheism could extend the rule of God from the
sanctuary to include the territory of divine rule. Thus when David is forced to
flee outside the land of Israel into the wilderness, he describes himself as
being “away from the presence of God” (1 Sam 26:20). In a completely different
usage, the face of God can even indicate divine anger (Lev 20:3, 5, 6, 17). In
view of the range of possible meaning, interpreters have sought to broaden the
command beyond the cultic setting, translating “beside me,” “over against me,”
“above me,” or even “except me,” thus excluding relations with any other Deity in
any context. D. Patrick concludes: “Exodus 20:3 … forbids any state of relation
that might issue in illicit actions.” (Thomas B.
Dozeman, Commentary on Exodus [The
Eerdmans Critical Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2009], 480-82)