You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
bow down
Exodus 23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
Leviticus 26:1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
Joshua 23:7,16 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: …
for I
Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 6:15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
visiting
Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Leviticus 20:5 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
Leviticus 26:29,39,40 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat…
of them
Deuteronomy 7:10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
Deuteronomy 32:41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
Psalm 81:15 The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
The term "jealous" here is not to be understood in a human sense of envy but rather as a zealousness for maintaining the covenant relationship. God's jealousy is a protective love, ensuring that His people remain faithful to Him. This reflects the covenantal nature of God's relationship with Israel, akin to a marriage, where faithfulness is paramount. The jealousy of God is also seen in the New Testament, where believers are called the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2).
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children
This phrase highlights the concept of generational consequences of sin. In ancient Near Eastern culture, the family unit was tightly knit, and the actions of one member could affect the entire household. This does not imply that children are punished for their parents' sins, but rather that the consequences of sin can have lasting effects. Ezekiel 18:20 clarifies that each person is responsible for their own sin, yet the environment and patterns set by previous generations can influence future ones.
to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
The mention of "third and fourth generations" indicates the enduring impact of sin, but it also implies a limit to God's judgment, contrasting with His mercy, which extends to thousands of generations (Exodus 20:6). The phrase "those who hate Me" refers to those who reject God and His commandments. This is a call to repentance and a warning of the seriousness of turning away from God. The generational aspect underscores the importance of teaching and living out faithfulness to God, as seen in Deuteronomy 6:6-7, where parents are instructed to diligently teach their children about God.
- The command is absolute: any act of physical prostration or inner adoration toward a carved image or any substitute for God is forbidden.
- This prohibition protects exclusive devotion to the Creator (Isaiah 42:8) and echoes later warnings such as 1 John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
- Israel had already seen how quickly hearts drifted to visible gods (Exodus 32:1–6). The command calls us to reject anything—possessions, relationships, ideologies—that claims the loyalty God alone deserves (Matthew 6:24).
- The reason behind the command rests in the Person who gives it. “LORD” (YHWH) is the covenant name revealed at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).
- He identifies Himself as “your God,” highlighting His personal covenant bond with His people (Jeremiah 31:33).
- Because He has redeemed us (1 Peter 1:18–19) and owns us (1 Corinthians 6:19–20), He alone has the right to our worship.
- God’s jealousy is holy passion to protect what belongs to Him. It is not petty envy but covenant faithfulness (Exodus 34:14).
- Just as a faithful spouse guards the exclusivity of marriage, the Lord insists on undivided loyalty (James 4:4–5).
- His jealousy assures us of His steadfast love; He will not abandon His people to rival deities (Deuteronomy 4:24).
- This speaks of consequences, not arbitrary punishment. When parents plunge into idolatry, its ripple effects scar families (2 Kings 17:41).
- Scripture balances personal responsibility—“The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20)—with the sober reality that sin’s patterns are often learned and repeated (Lamentations 5:7).
- God’s justice is measured: three or four generations of judgment contrasts with “showing loving devotion to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 5:10), underlining mercy’s vast reach.
- The generational consequences fall on households that persist in rejecting God, not on children who turn to Him (Deuteronomy 24:16).
- “Hate” here is willful refusal to acknowledge God’s rightful rule (John 3:19–20). When hatred stops and love begins, the cycle breaks (2 Chronicles 7:14).
- The warning calls each generation to choose faithfulness, illustrating Paul’s plea: “Flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14).
Exodus 20:5 underscores God’s exclusive claim to our worship, rooted in His covenant identity and holy jealousy. Idolatry invites generational fallout, yet repentance halts the pattern. The verse is both a stern warning and a gracious invitation: cling to the living God, and enjoy His steadfast love that outlasts every counterfeit rival.
(5) Nor serve them.--The idolatry of the ancient world was, practically, not a mere worship of celestial beings through material representations of them, but an actual culture of the images themselves, which were regarded as possessed of miraculous powers. "I myself," says Arnobius, "not so very long ago, worshipped gods just taken out of the furnace, fresh from the anvil of the smith, ivory, paintings, stumps of trees swathed in bandages; and if I happened to cast my eyes on a polished stone smeared with olive oil, I made reverence to it, as if a power were present therein, and addressed myself in supplication for blessings to the senseless block" (Advers. Gentes, i. 29). "People pray," says Seneca, "to the images of the gods, implore them on bended knees, sit or stand long days before them, throw them money, and sacrifice beasts to them, so treating them with deep respect" (Ap. Lactant., ii. 2).A jealous God.--Not in the sense in which He was regarded as "jealous" by some of the Greeks, who supposed that success or eminence of any kind provoked Him (Herod. iii. 40, 125), but jealous of His own honour, one who will not see "His glory given to another" (Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 48:11), or allow rivals to dispute His sole and absolute sovereignty. (Comp. Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 5:9; Deuteronomy 6:15; Joshua 24:19.) . . .
Verse 5. - Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them. Every outward sign of honour was shown to images in the ancient world. They were not regarded as emblems, but as actual embodiments of deity. There was a special rite in Greece (Theopoea) by means of which the gods were inducted into their statues, and made to take up their abodes in them. Seneca says of the Romans of his own day - "They pray to these images of the gods, implore them on bended knee, sit or stand long days before them, throw them money, and sacrifice beasts to them, so treating them with deep respect, though they despise the man who made them" (Ap. Lact. 2:2). I, the Lord thy God am a jealous God. God "will not give his glory to another" (Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 48:11), will not suffer a rival near his throne. He is not "jealous." as the Greeks thought (Herod. 7:10, § 5), of mere success, or greatness; but he is very jealous of his own honour, and will not have the respect and reverence, which is his due, bestowed on other beings or on inanimate objects. Compare with the present passage Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 5:9; Deuteronomy 6:15; Joshua 24:19; etc. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. Exception has been taken to the plain meaning of this passage by a multitude of writers, who dread the reproach of the sceptic, that the God of the Old Testament is a God careless of justice and bent upon revenge. But neither does society, nor does civil justice itself, regard the visiting of parents' sins upon their children as in all cases unjust. Society by its scorn punishes for their parents' transgressions the illegitimate, the children of criminals, the children - especially the daughters - of adulteresses. Civil justice condemns to forfeiture of their titles and their estates, the innocent children of those executed for treason. God again manifestly does by the laws which obtain in his moral universe, entail on children many consequences of their parents' ill-doing - as the diseases which arise from profligacy or intemperance, the poverty which is the result of idleness or extravagance, the ignorance and evil habits which are the fruit of a neglected education. It is this sort of visitation which is intended here. The children and grandchildren of idolaters would start in life under disadvantages. The vicious lives of their parents would have sown in them the seeds both of physical and moral evil. They would commonly be brought up in wrong courses, have their moral sense early perverted, and so suffer for their parents' faults. It would be difficult for them to rise out of their unhappy condition. Still, "each would bear his own iniquity." Each would "be judged by that he had, not by that he bad not." An all-wise God would, in the final award, make allowance for the disadvantages of birth and inherited disposition, and would assign to each that position to which his own conduct - his struggles, efforts, endeavours after right - entitled him. To say that the threat "applies only to such children as follow the sins of their fathers" Kalisch) is to empty the passage of all force. It applies to all; but the visitation intended consists in temporal disadvantages, not in the final award of happiness or misery.