This brief
document is nothing more than a close look at how to translate the 2nd
commandment.
(Exo 20:4 GNB)
"Do not make for yourselves images
of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.
Lev 26:1
1 "'Do
not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not
place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your
God. (NIV)
Deut 4:15-19
15 You saw no
form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb
out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,
16 so that you
do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol,
an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,
17 or like any
animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,
18 or like any
creature that moves along the ground or any fish
in the waters below.
19 And when you
look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars-- all the heavenly
array-- do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the
LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (NIV)
Deut 27:14-15
14 The Levites
shall recite to all the people of
15 "Cursed
is the man who carves an image or casts an idol-- a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of the
craftsman's hands-- and sets it up in secret." Then all the people shall
say, "Amen!" (NIV)
Exod 20:4
4 "You
shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or
on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
(NIV)
The “make
for yourself” in NIV above is rendered as “make unto thee” in the KJV—where
“idol” is translated as “any engraven image”.
(Exo 20:4
KJV+) Thou shalt
not3808 make6213 unto thee any graven image,6459 or any3605
likeness8544 of any thing that834 is in heaven8064 above,4480,
4605 or that834 is in the earth776 beneath,4480,
8478 or that834 is
in the water4325 under4480, 8478 the earth:776
The Good
News Bible is a more modern translation which encompasses the idea of “graven”
within a broader indictment of all image-making:
(Exo 20:4 GNB) "Do not make for yourselves images of
anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.
It deviates
from the Hebrew text by omitting the word below— not explicitly mentioning
carving or graving:
peh'-sel
From H6458; an idol: - carved (graven) image.
Instead it
simply says “images of anything” which includes not only graven images but also
any likeness. Actually, the omission of
the word graven image is not very significant considering that it is a type of
“likeness”. Here is the Hebrew word for
“likeness”:
H8544
תּמנה
תּמוּנה
temûnâh temûnâh
tem-oo-naw', tem-oo-naw'
From H4327; something portioned (that is, fashioned)
out, as a shape, that is, (indefinitely) phantom, or
(specifically) embodiment, or (figuratively) manifestation (of
favor): - image, likeness, similitude.
A Christian
might say that their religious engraven image (such
as a fish or cross) is not an idol. Perhaps it is not an idol to them. However, even if it is not an idol, the 2nd
commandment forbids such engraven images.
(Exo 20:4
KJV+) Thou shalt
not3808 make6213 unto thee any graven image,6459 or any3605
likeness8544 of any thing that834 is in heaven8064 above,4480,
4605 or that834 is in the earth776 beneath,4480,
8478 or that834 is
in the water4325 under4480, 8478 the earth:776
There is
never a religious reason good enough to rationalize breaking God’s moral law. Such reasons
or excuses are counter productive in the same sense as this reasoning: “I’ll rob a bank and use the money to build a
church building”.
Ministry to
God never includes breaking his commands.