Exodus 20:14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Exodus 20:14 sn This is a sin against the marriage of a fellow citizen—it destroys the home. The Law distinguished between adultery (which had a death penalty) and sexual contact with a young woman (which carried a monetary fine and usually marriage if the father was willing). So it distinguished fornication and adultery. Both were sins, but the significance of each was different. In the ancient world this sin is often referred to as “the great sin.”
2. Exodus 20:15 sn This law protected the property of the Israelite citizen. See D. Little, “Exodus 20:15: ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’,” Int 34 (1980): 399-405.
3. Exodus 20:16 tn Heb “answer” as in a court of law.
4. Exodus 20:16 tn The expression עֵד שָׁקֶר (ʿed shaqer) means “a lying witness” (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 388). In this verse the noun is an adverbial accusative, “you will not answer as a lying witness.” The prohibition is against perjury. While the precise reference would be to legal proceedings, the law probably had a broader application to lying about other people in general (see Lev 5:1; Hos 4:2).