“Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
a graven image, nor the form of anything 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 thyself unto them, nor serve them, for I, the
Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of
them that hate me; and showing loving-kindness to the thousandth
generation of them that love me and keep my commandments.”
There are no other gods in existence; it is impossible for us to have
other gods. There is only one God, as we repeatedly declare, “Hear, O
Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” The commandment is
nevertheless not superfluous. There have been whole nations, and there
are still people, who, in their ignorance and folly, attribute Divine
power to things that have no Divine power, and who give the name of god
to things that are not gods. Such people are called heathens,
idolaters, or idol-worshippers. The second commandment forbids us to do
any such thing.
It was the custom in some countries to worship the king, either during
his lifetime or after his death, as a Divine being; it is still the
custom in some countries to pray to departed saints. All this our holy
religion forbids us to do. We must respect our king, we must honour the
memory and the name of good men, but only as human beings, not as gods;
we may not deify them. As to our prophets, our great men, the
Patriarchs, the kings, their names are a pride unto us, their memory a
blessing, זכרונם לברכה—they are honoured by us as human, mortal
beings: they are not worshipped. When we visit the graves of those near
and dear to us, and honour their memory by reflecting on their virtues,
when we revere those holy men who have devoted their lives to the
service of God, or the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for the
sanctification of the Name of God (קדוש השם), we do not endow them
with Divine attributes, and do not offer up any prayer to them.
The second commandment, in forbidding all kinds of idolatry, includes
the following prohibitions:—
(1.) The worship of sun, moon, stars, animals, human beings, or any
part of Nature, as endowed with Divine power.
(2.) The worship of images representing things that exist in reality or
in man’s imagination.
(3.) The worship of angels as Divine beings. They are only messengers
of God, and we must not pray to them.
(4.) The belief in evil spirits, demons, devils, and the like, and the
fear of them.
(5.) The belief in charms, witchcraft, fortune-telling, and similar
superstitions.
The words, “For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God,” are to be
understood in a figurative sense; we cannot say of God that He is
jealous, in the literal sense of the word. It is only because we call a
person jealous who is anxious that no one else shall enjoy the same
right or privilege as he enjoys, that we apply the term “jealous”
figuratively to God, because He does not concede Divine worship and
service to any other being. He demands of His worshippers that they
serve Him alone and none besides.
Those who break this commandment “hate God,” and will surely receive
their punishment. He “visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children upon the third and upon the fourth generation.” The bad
example set by a man frequently corrupts his children, grandchildren,
and great-grandchildren. In that case they will all receive their
punishment, and there is no excuse for them, that they were misled by
the bad example of their father or their forefathers. A bad example
must not be followed, even if it be set by those whom we love dearly.
The good example of a man should always be followed, and his good deeds
bear good fruit and are the source of blessing even long after his
death. For to those that love God and keep His commandments God
“showeth mercy even to the thousandth generation.”