Read Exodus 19:1-20:7 at Bible Gateway.
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Exo 19:1-25 {s} YHVH descended upon Mt Sinai in fire, to enact the marriage covenant with Israel
Exo 20:1 {s} And God spoke all these words, saying
Exo 20:2-6 {s} Israel shall have no gods before YHVH
Exo 20:7 {p} Israel shall not take the name of YHVH in vain
This strong theme seems like a mismatched series of paragraphs. What could be the point to dividing up the theme in the middle of the Ten Commandments, and putting it with the previous chapter? The chiastic structure gives us our answer:
Exo 19:1-20:7 {sx3+p} Chiastic structure
Notice that in this strong theme, the first three commandments, Have no gods before Me; Do not make graven images to worship; and Do not profane My name, are all included in a single smaller chiasm as the 2A pair. The structure is teaching us, therefore, that YHVH first loved us (1A pair) by bringing us to Himself and treasuring us as His people above all the people on the earth, and proposing this marriage covenant with us as He desired us as His wife, and we respond in love to Him (2A pair) by keeping His commandments that teach us how to love YHVH, which are, commandments 1-3.
Thank You for Your love, Father! ♥
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