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Revised Standard Version
Exodus 20:26
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- CondensedParallel Translations
Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.'
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
You will not go up with steps onto my altar, that your nakedness not be exposed on it.'
And you must not go up to my altar on steps, or people will be able to see under your clothes."
And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.'
'Nor shall you go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.'
'And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.'
Neither shalt thou goe vp by steppes vnto mine altar, that thy filthines be not discouered thereon.
And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.'
And don't build an altar that requires steps; you might expose yourself when you climb up.
Then God said all these words: א "I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery. ב "You are to have no other gods before me. You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline. You are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my mitzvot. ג "You are not to use lightly the name of Adonai your God, because Adonai will not leave unpunished someone who uses his name lightly. ד "Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. You have six days to labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Shabbat for Adonai your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work — not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. For in six days, Adonai made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why Adonai blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself. ה "Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land which Adonai your God is giving you. ו "Do not murder. ז "Do not commit adultery. ח "Do not steal. ט "Do not give false evidence against your neighbor. י "Do not covet your neighbor's house; do not covet your neighbor's wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (A: vii) All the people experienced the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled. Standing at a distance, they said to Moshe, "You, speak with us; and we will listen. But don't let God speak with us, or we will die." Moshe answered the people, "Don't be afraid, because God has come only to test you and make you fear him, so that you won't commit sins." So the people stood at a distance, but Moshe approached the thick darkness where God was. (A: Maftir) Adonai said to Moshe, "Here is what you are to say to the people of Isra'el: ‘You yourselves have seen that I spoke with you from heaven. You are not to make with me gods of silver, nor are you to make gods of gold for yourselves. (S: Maftir) For me you need make only an altar of earth; on it you will sacrifice your burnt offerings, peace offerings, sheep, goats and cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you. If you do make me an altar of stone, you are not to build it of cut stones; for if you use a tool on it, you profane it. Likewise, you are not to use steps to go up to my altar; so that you won't be indecently uncovered.'" Haftarah Yitro: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 6:1–7:6; 9:5(6)– 6(7) (A); 6:1–13 (S) B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Yitro: Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:21–30; 15:1–11; 19:16–30; Mark 7:5–15; 10:17–31; Luke 18:18–30; Acts 6:1–7; Romans 2:17–29; 7:7–12; 13:8–10; Ephesians 6:1–3; 1 Timothy 3:1–14; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 1:5–9; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 12:18–29; Ya‘akov (James) 2:8–13; 1 Kefa (1 Peter) 2:9–10
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
And you must not make steps leading up to the altar. If there are steps, when people look up to the altar, they will be able to see under your clothes."
And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.'
Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.
Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.
Do not go up to my altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.
And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be uncovered on it.
Morouer thou shalt not go vp vpon steppes vnto myne altare, that thy shame be not discouered before it.
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.
And do not go up by steps to my altar, for fear that your bodies may be seen uncovered.
Neyther shalt thou go vp by steppes vnto myne aulter, that thy shame be not shewed theron.
span data-lang="eng" data-trans="jps" data-ref="exe.20.1" class="versetxt"> And God spoke all these words, saying: I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the horn, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses: 'Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' And Moses said unto the people: 'Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not.' And the people stood afar off; but Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the LORD said unto Moses: Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel: Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with Me--gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee and bless thee. And if thou make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast profaned it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.
Neither shalt thou goe vp by steps vnto mine Altar, that thy nakednesse be not discouered thereon.
Thou shalt not go up to my altar by steps, that thou mayest not uncover thy nakedness upon it.
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'
Thou schalt not stye bi grees to myn auter, lest thi filthe be schewid.
neither dost thou go up by steps on Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not revealed upon it.
Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness shall not be uncovered thereon.
Neither shalt thou go up by steps to my altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.'
Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.'
And do not approach my altar by going up steps. If you do, someone might look up under your clothing and see your nakedness.
And do not go up on steps to My altar, so no part of your body may be seen without being covered.'
You shall not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness may not be exposed on it."
neither shalt thou go up, by steps unto mine altar, - lest by any means thy shame be discovered thereupon.
Thou shalt not go up by steps unto my altar, lest thy nakedness be discovered.
'And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.'
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
thy nakedness: Leviticus 10:3, Psalms 89:7, Ecclesiastes 5:1, Hebrews 12:28, Hebrews 12:29, 1 Peter 1:16
Reciprocal: Exodus 28:42 - breeches Exodus 28:43 - unto the altar Leviticus 16:33 - General Ezekiel 43:17 - his stairs Acts 7:36 - and in the wilderness Acts 7:53 - have received
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar,.... That is, you priests, the sons of Aaron, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words; the altar of burnt offering built when the tabernacle was seemed not to require any, being but three cubits high, Exodus 27:1 but that in Solomon's temple did, being ten cubits high, 2 Chronicles 4:1 and therefore some method must be used to ascend it, and do the business that was to be done on it: now the Jews say b, there was what they call "Kibbesh", a sort of a causeway made of earth thrown up, which rose gradually and led to the top of the altar, and was about thirty two cubits long and sixteen broad: and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the words,
"thou shalt not go up by steps to mine altar, but by bridges;''
express mention is made of stairs to the altar in Ezekiel's vision,
Ezekiel 43:17
that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon; that part of the body which is not to be named, and ought not to be seen, and which would be exposed if there were many steps, and these at a distance from each other; which would oblige them to take large strides, and so be in danger of discovering those parts which would make them the object of contempt and ridicule with the people; since as yet breeches were not used, and the garments were long loose ones, which were easily turned aside, or the parts under them seen by those below; to prevent which, afterwards linen breeches were ordered to be made for the priests, and to be used by them in their service: Maimonides c thinks the reason of this was, because formerly the idolatrous worship of Peor was performed by uncovering of their nakedness before it; and so by this is expressed God's detestation of such an impure and abominable practice; but this is uncertain; however, this we may be sure of, that this is the will of God, that all immodesty and indecency, and whatever tends to create impure thoughts and stir up unclean lusts, should be carefully avoided in his worship.
b Middot, c. 3. sect. 3. c Ut supra. (Apud L'Empereur in Middot, ib.)
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Nothing could be more appropriate as the commencement of the book of the covenant than these regulations for public worship. The rules for the building of altars must have been old and accepted, and are not inconsistent with the directions for the construction of the altar of the court of the tabernacle, Exodus 27:1-8 (compare Joshua 22:26-28).
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Exodus 20:26. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar — The word altar comes from altus, high or elevated, though the Hebrew word מזבח mizbach, from זבח zabach, to slay, kill, c., signifies merely a place for sacrifice see Genesis 8:20. But the heathens, who imitated the rites of the true God in their idolatrous worship, made their altars very high; whence they derived their name altaria, altars, i.e., very high or elevated places; which they built thus, partly through pride and vain glory, and partly that their gods might the better hear them. Hence also the high places or idolatrous altars so often and so severely condemned in the Holy Scriptures. The heathens made some of their altars excessively high; and some imagine that the pyramids were altars of this kind, and that the inspired writer refers to those in these prohibitions. God therefore ordered his altars to be made,
1. either of simple turf, that there might be no unnecessary expense, which, in their present circumstances, the people could not well afford; and that they might be no incentives to idolatry from their costly or curious structure; or
2. of unhewn stone, that no images of animals or of the celestial bodies might be sculptured on them, as was the case among the idolaters, and especially among the Egyptians, as several of their ancient altars which remain to the present day amply testify; which altars themselves, and the images carved on them, became in process of time incentives to idolatry, and even objects of worship.
In short, God formed every part of his worship so that every thing belonging to it might be as dissimilar as possible from that of the surrounding heathenish nations, and especially the Egyptians, from whose land they had just now departed. This seems to have been the whole design of those statutes on which many commentators have written so largely and learnedly, imagining difficulties where probably there are none. The altars of the tabernacle were of a different kind.
IN this and the preceding chapter we have met with some of the most awful displays of the Divine Majesty; manifestations of justice and holiness which have no parallel, and can have none till that day arrive in which he shall appear in his glory, to judge the quick and the dead. The glory was truly terrible, and to the children of Israel insufferable; and yet how highly privileged to have God himself speaking to them from the midst of the fire, giving them statutes and judgments so righteous, so pure, so holy, and so truly excellent in their operation and their end, that they have been the admiration of all the wise and upright in all countries and ages of the world, where their voice has been heard! Mohammed defied all the poets and literati of Arabia to match the language of the Koran; and for purity, elegance, and dignity it bore away the palm, and remained unrivalled. This indeed was the only advantage which the work derived from its author; for its other excellences it was indebted to Moses and the prophets, to Christ and the apostles; as there is scarcely a pure, consistent, theologic notion in it, that has not been borrowed from our sacred books. Moses calls the attention of the people, not to the language in which these Divine laws were given, though that is all that it should be, and every way worthy of its author; compressed yet perspicuous; simple yet dignified; in short, such as God should speak if he wished his creatures to comprehend; but he calls their attention to the purity, righteousness, and usefulness of the grand revelation which they had just received. For what nation, says he, is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as Jehovah our God is, in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? And that which was the sum of all excellence in the present case was this, that the GOD who gave these laws dwelt among his people; to him they had continual access, and from him received that power without which obedience so extensive and so holy would have been impossible; and yet not one of these laws exacted more than eternal reason, the nature and fitness of things, the prosperity of the community, and the peace and happiness of the individual, required. The LAW is holy, and the COMMANDMENT is HOLY, JUST, and GOOD.
To show still more clearly the excellence and great utility of the ten commandments, and to correct some mistaken notions concerning them, it may be necessary to make a few additional observations. And
1. It is worthy of remark that there is none of these commandments, nor any part of one, which can fairly be considered as merely ceremonial. All are moral, and consequently of everlasting obligation.
2. When considered merely as to the letter, there is certainly no difficulty in the moral obedience required to them. Let every reader take them up one by one, and ask his conscience before God, which of them he is under a fatal and uncontrollable necessity to break?
3. Though by the incarnation and death of Christ all the ceremonial law which referred to him and his sacrifice is necessarily abrogated, yet, as none of these ten commandments refer to any thing properly ceremonial, therefore they are not abrogated.
4. Though Christ came into the world to redeem them who believe from the curse of the law, he did not redeem them from the necessity of walking in that newness of life which these commandments so strongly inculcate.
5. Though Christ is said to have fulfilled the law for us, yet it is nowhere intimated in the Scripture that he has so fulfilled these TEN LAWS, as to exempt us from the necessity and privilege of being no idolaters, swearers, Sabbath-breakers, disobedient and cruel children, murderers, adulterers, thieves, and corrupt witnesses. All these commandments, it is true, he punctually fulfilled himself; and all these he writes on the heart of every soul redeemed by his blood.
6. Do not those who scruple not to insinuate that the proper observation of these laws is impossible in this life, and that every man since the fall does daily break them in thought, word, and deed, bear false witness against God and his truth? and do they not greatly err, not knowing the Scripture, which teaches the necessity of such obedience, nor the power of God, by which the evil principle of the heart is destroyed, and the law of purity written on the soul? If even the regenerate man, as some have unwarily asserted, does daily break these commands, these ten words, in thought, word, and deed, he may be as bad as Satan for aught we know; for Satan himself cannot transgress in more forms than these, for sin can be committed in no other way, either by bodied or disembodied spirits, than by thought, or word, or deed. Such sayings as these tend to destroy the distinction between good and evil, and leave the infidel and the believer on a par as to their moral state. The people of God should be careful how they use them.
7. It must be granted, and indeed has sufficiently appeared from the preceding exposition of these commandments, that they are not only to be understood in the letter but also in the spirit, and that therefore they may be broken in the heart while outwardly kept inviolate; yet this does not prove that a soul influenced by the grace and spirit of Christ cannot most conscientiously observe them; for the grace of the Gospel not on)y saves a man from outward but also from inward sin; for, says the heavenly messenger, his name shall be called JESUS, (i.e., Saviour,) because he shall save, (i.e., DELIVER) his people FROM their sins. Therefore the weakness or corruption of human nature forms no argument here, because the blood of Christ cleanses from all unrighteousness; and he saves to the uttermost all who come unto the Father through him. It is therefore readily granted that no man unassisted and uninfluenced by the grace of Christ can keep these commandments, either in the letter or in the spirit; but he who is truly converted to God, and has Christ dwelling in his heart by faith, can, in the letter and in the spirit, do all these things, BECAUSE CHRIST STRENGTHENS him. - Reader, the following is a good prayer, and oftentimes thou hast said it; now learn to pray it: "Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep these laws! Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee!" - Com. Service.
