Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any 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:

EXODUS 20:4KJV
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Exodus 20:4 (KJV)

What does Exodus 20:4 mean?

Exodus 20:4 commands the Israelites not to make any carved or shaped image, or any likeness of anything in the sky, on the earth, or in the waters below the earth. This verse is a clear instruction against creating physical representations of anything for the purpose of worship.

God is speaking directly to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai as part of the Ten Commandments. The verse sets a boundary to prevent the Israelites from making idols or objects that could become substitutes for God. The command covers every possible realm—heaven, earth, and water—showing that no part of creation should be turned into an object of worship.

The Hebrew behind Exodus 20:4

  • עָשָׂה (asah, "make"): This word means to do, make, or create. Here, it emphasizes the act of intentionally crafting or shaping something, not just stumbling upon it.
  • פֶּסֶל (pesel, "image"): This is a word for a carved or sculpted object, usually referring to idols made for worship. The focus is on something shaped by human hands.
  • תְּמוּנָה (temunah, "likeness"): This word means a form, shape, or likeness. It broadens the command to include not just carved idols but any kind of representation or imitation.
  • שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, "heaven"), אֶרֶץ (erets, "earth"), מַיִם (mayim, "water"): These words highlight that the command covers all parts of creation—nothing in the sky, on land, or in the sea is to be made into an image for worship.

Why Exodus 20:4 matters

  • Exodus 20:4 clarifies that the prohibition is not just against worshiping idols but also against making them in the first place, closing the door to even the possibility of idol worship.
  • The verse helps explain the seriousness with which God wants to be set apart from anything humans can create, emphasizing that God is not to be represented by anything in creation.
  • This command is closely connected to the first commandment (no other gods), showing that worship in Israel is to be directed only to the unseen, living God, not to anything visible or tangible.

Where else these words appear

“likeness” Hebrew H8544 · used in 10 verses

  • Numbers 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
  • Deuteronomy 4:16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
  • Deuteronomy 5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:

“image” Hebrew H6459 · used in 31 verses

  • 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.
  • Judges 18:18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?
  • Isaiah 44:9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

“that” Hebrew H834 · used in 105 verses

  • Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
  • Genesis 31:49 And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.
  • Deuteronomy 12:2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

“above” Hebrew H4605 · used in 134 verses

  • Genesis 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
  • Numbers 4:35 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation:
  • 2 Chronicles 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.