Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me - Heb., Let there not be, or, There shall not be to thee other gods х `al (H5921) paanaaya (H6440)] over and above me [Septuagint, pleen emou, except, besides me]. Michaelis, who considers this commandment as intimately connected with the preceding statement, remarks ('Commentary on the Laws of Moses,' vol. 1:, art. 33) that it was addressed to a people born and bred in a polytheistic land, and deeply imbued with the idolatrous tendencies of its people; and that, viewed in this light, the purport of it was, 'Lest you should absurdly suppose that there are many gods who can hear your prayers and recompense your offerings, know that I alone have delivered you from Egyptian tyranny, have made you a people, and am the author and founder of your state; therefore, let no gods but me be worshipped among you.' The unity of the Divine Being was a fundamental article of their religion. It was no esoteric doctrine, but proclaimed publicly to all classes of the people. The establishment of the true religion, comprehending, as a first principle, the knowledge and belief of one invisible God, in the midst of nations where Polytheism and Pantheism universally prevailed, is alone sufficient to show that the theology of the Jews had a different origin from that of the neighbouring people-was not the result of their superior intelligence, but was divinely communicated. This pure and absolute monotheism was also the basis of the national covenant. The Israelites required to be worshippers of one God by outward profession, which is the only token of obedience to the command which, as a nation, they could give: and whenever they violated this commandment, which formed the hinge on which the whole theocracy turned - i:e., when Yahweh was publicly and nationally disowned-they forfeited their title to the possession of the land of Canaan.