Deuteronomy 5

Moses gathers the people on the plains of Moab and retells how God gave the Ten Commandments at Sinai (Horeb). He reminds a new generation that the covenant is made with them, not only with their parents. The chapter ends with the people’s fear of God’s voice, their promise to obey, and Moses’ call to walk the whole way God commands.

Deuteronomy 5:1

Moses calls the whole nation together to hear God’s laws. Hearing here means more than listening; it means taking the words in and acting on them. The people must learn them and guard them carefully, as something precious that can be lost.

BSA: Hear (“listen carefully, obey”): In Hebrew thinking, true hearing ends in obedience. observe (“keep, guard, watch over”): God’s word is a treasure to be protected, not just a rule to be followed.

Hebrew: שְׁמַע (shema, H8085) — “hear, listen and obey.” This is the same opening word as the famous ‘Hear, O Israel’ of Deuteronomy 6:4. It calls for a listening that leads to action.

See also: Deuteronomy 6:4.

Deuteronomy 5:2-3

The covenant at Horeb was not just ancient history. Most of those listening were children at Sinai, or were born afterward. Moses tells them they are the ones God bound himself to, and that they must take it as their own.

BSA: made (“cut, established”): Ancient covenants were ‘cut’ in a solemn ceremony, showing how serious the bond was.

See also: Exodus 19:5-6.

Deuteronomy 5:4-5

God spoke to the people directly, as one person speaks to another, yet from within a fire that showed his holiness. The people were afraid, so Moses stood between them and God to carry the message. Nearness to God is real, and it is also awesome.

BSA: face to face (“person to person, directly”): God truly spoke to them in a personal way, not through distant rumor. standing (“as a mediator, intermediary”): Moses is a go-between, which points to the people’s need for someone to stand between them and God.

See also: Exodus 20:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:5.

Deuteronomy 5:6

The commandments begin with who God is and what he has done, not with a rule. He is the LORD, their own God, who rescued them from slavery. Obedience is meant to be the answer of people who have already been saved.

BSA: slavery (“servants, bondage”): Egypt was a place of hard bondage, and the contrast makes God’s rescue stand out.

See also: Exodus 20:2.

Deuteronomy 5:7

God claims first place, and in fact the only place, in Israel’s worship. No rival is to stand beside him or ahead of him. Because he alone rescued them, he alone is owed their loyalty.

See also: Matthew 4:10.

Deuteronomy 5:8

God forbids making an image of him, or of anything, to be worshiped. He is not like anything in the sky, on land or in the sea. A made image shrinks him and puts a thing we control in place of the living God.

BSA: idol (“graven image”): This means a carved or shaped figure, made by hands to be worshiped.

See also: Isaiah 40:18; Acts 17:29.

Deuteronomy 5:9-10

God is jealous in the way a faithful husband would be: he will not share the love that belongs to him. The effects of sin spread down through families, yet his steadfast love reaches far further, to a thousand generations. His kindness is greater than his judgment.

BSA: jealous (“zealous, passionately exclusive”): God’s jealousy is the fierce commitment of covenant love, not petty envy. loving devotion (“kindness, mercy”): This is faithful, steady love that does not give up on those it is pledged to.

Hebrew: חֶסֶד (chesed, H2617) — “loyal love, covenant kindness.” It describes love that keeps its promises. It is God’s steady faithfulness toward his people.

See also: Exodus 34:6-7.

Deuteronomy 5:11

God’s name stands for who he is. To use it emptily, falsely, or as a cover for something wrong is to treat him as unimportant. This includes careless oaths and empty religious talk, and God does not ignore it.

BSA: name (“identity, character”): God’s name carries his whole character, so misusing it misrepresents him. in vain (“emptily”): The name is used for nothing, with no truth or weight behind it.

Hebrew: תִשָּׂא (tissa, H5375) — “lift up, carry, take up.” To ’take’ the name means to lift it up or carry it. We carry God’s name as his people, so we must carry it honestly.

See also: Matthew 5:33-37.

Deuteronomy 5:12-14

One day in seven is set apart as holy, free from work, for God. The rest is for everyone: children, workers, animals and even the foreigner. No one is to be driven nonstop, and no one is left out of this gift.

BSA: holy (“set apart, consecrated”): The day is made different from other days because it belongs to God. keeping (“to protect, attend to, guard”): The Sabbath is something to be guarded carefully so that it is not lost to busyness.

Hebrew: שַׁבָּת (shabbat, H7676) — “Sabbath, a ceasing, rest.” The word means to stop or cease. The day is built around stopping work and resting in God.

See also: Exodus 20:8-11; Mark 2:27.

Deuteronomy 5:15

Here the Sabbath rests on the memory of rescue. In Egypt Israel had no rest, because slaves never stop. God freed them with great power, so they must now give rest to others, and not become new masters.

BSA: Remember (“to recall and mark”): Remembering is an active choice to keep God’s rescue in view. outstretched (“stretched out, extended”): The picture is of God’s arm reaching out in action to save.

See also: Exodus 6:6.

Deuteronomy 5:16

Children are to give weight and respect to their parents. The command comes with a promise of a long and good life in the land. A society grows steady when the young honor those who raised them.

BSA: Honor (“show respect, esteem highly”): It means treating parents as people of real weight, not as a burden.

Hebrew: כַּבֵּד (kabbed, H3513) — “honor, give weight to.” The word comes from the idea of heaviness. To honor someone is to treat them as weighty and important.

See also: Ephesians 6:1-3.

Deuteronomy 5:17

Human life belongs to God, so taking an innocent life is forbidden. The command speaks of unlawful killing, not every act that ends a life. It protects the dignity of every person made in God’s image.

BSA: murder (“kill, take someone’s life, implying a strong negation”): The word points to the wrongful taking of life, not to all killing.

Hebrew: תִּרְצָח (tirtsach, H7523) — “murder.” This Hebrew verb usually refers to unlawful, personal killing, such as murder or manslaughter, not killing in general.

See also: Genesis 9:6; Matthew 5:21-22.

Deuteronomy 5:18

Marriage is a sacred promise, and God guards it. Adultery breaks faith with a spouse and with God, and it wounds families and the community. The command protects the faithful bond between husband and wife.

See also: Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 5:27-28.

Deuteronomy 5:19

What belongs to a neighbor is not ours to take. Stealing breaks trust and harms a person’s livelihood. The command honors each person’s right to the fruit of their work and shows care for the neighbor.

BSA: steal (“take something secretly, plunder, or deceive”): Theft can be quiet and sly, as well as open and forceful.

See also: Ephesians 4:28.

Deuteronomy 5:20

In court and in daily talk, our words must be true. A false witness can ruin an innocent person. God cares about honesty because lies destroy justice and trust among neighbors.

BSA: false (“deceptive, untrue, or vain”): The word carries the idea of emptiness, as a lie has nothing real behind it.

See also: Proverbs 19:5.

Deuteronomy 5:21

The last command reaches the heart. It forbids not only taking what is another’s, but wanting it with a grasping desire. Sin begins inside, and God cares about the wants that drive our actions.

BSA: covet (“desire or lust after”): This is a strong longing that grasps for what belongs to someone else.

See also: Luke 12:15; Romans 7:7.

Deuteronomy 5:22

God spoke these ten words out loud to the whole people, with fire, cloud and thick darkness around him. He added nothing more at that time, because these words were complete as the heart of the covenant. He then wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to Moses.

BSA: added (“increased, did more”): The ten words stood on their own as God’s complete public voice to the people.

See also: Exodus 31:18.

Deuteronomy 5:23-24

The leaders came to Moses after seeing the mountain ablaze. They were amazed that God had spoken to them and they were still alive. They recognized his glory and greatness, and they understood how rare and wonderful this was.

BSA: glory (“great honor, splendor”): God’s glory is his weighty splendor, made visible in the fire.

Deuteronomy 5:25-26

Awe turned to dread. The people felt that more of God’s voice would be too much for them to bear. No ordinary mortal had ever heard the living God speak like this and lived to tell it. They knew how small they were before his holiness.

BSA: flesh (“humanity, mortal beings”): The word stresses human weakness and mortality before the living God.

See also: Hebrews 12:18-21.

Deuteronomy 5:27

The people ask Moses to go near and listen for them, and then pass the words on. They promise to listen and obey. Their words sound good, but they also show their wish to have someone else stand close to God for them.

See also: Exodus 24:3.

Deuteronomy 5:28-29

God heard the promise and said the people spoke well. Yet he sighs with longing: if only their hearts would stay this way. He wants more than words. He wants a heart that honors him, for their own good and that of their children.

BSA: heart (“the innermost part of a person”): God looks past spoken promises to the deep center of a person. fear (“revere and stand in awe of”): This fear is reverent awe that leads to obedience, not terror alone.

See also: Deuteronomy 10:12-13; Jeremiah 31:33.

Deuteronomy 5:30-31

The people go back to their tents, but Moses stays in God’s presence. There God gives him the rest of the commandments, statutes and ordinances. Moses is to teach them so that Israel will live rightly in the land God is giving them.

BSA: stand (“in My presence, at this specific location”): Moses is invited to remain close to God while the people step back.

Deuteronomy 5:32

Moses urges careful, steady obedience, like walking a straight road with no turning off. The people are not to bend God’s commands to suit themselves, adding or dropping parts. God’s path is clear and good.

BSA: careful (“take heed, observe diligently”): Obedience takes watchfulness and attention, not casual effort.

See also: Joshua 1:7; Proverbs 4:27.

Deuteronomy 5:33

The chapter ends with a promise. Walking in God’s ways is not a burden for its own sake. It leads to life, well-being and long days in the land. God’s commands are given for his people’s good.

BSA: walk (“follow, obey”): Obedience is a daily way of life, step by step. ways (“paths, manner of life”): God’s commands form a road to follow for the whole of life.

See also: Psalm 119:1-3; Deuteronomy 30:19-20.