Chapter 21
1And these are the judgments which you shall set before them.
20
Exodus
Laws About Altars
Exodus 20:22-21:1
Key words in this passage
Cross-references
Study notes
The instructions open by anchoring every subsequent rule in the people's direct sight of the LORD speaking from heaven. That encounter rules out silver or gold images placed alongside him and requires altars built only of soil or untouched stones. The LORD promises to come and bless wherever he causes his name to be remembered, yet he withholds that promise from any site altered by tools or approached in ways that expose nakedness. These concrete limits on worship materials and movement stand immediately before the announcement of the judgments Moses must set before the people, showing that loyalty to the voice heard at Sinai begins with the rejection of crafted additions and the preservation of reverence at the place of sacrifice.
What is Laws About Altars about?
After the Ten Commandments have been spoken directly from the mountain, the LORD addresses Moses again with words meant for the sons of Israel. The people have already heard the divine voice from heaven, and the next instructions focus on how they are to handle that encounter in their worship. They are told not to make gods of silver or gold alongside the LORD, and they receive precise directions for building an altar of soil or uncut stones. Steps are prohibited so that nothing indecent appears on the altar during sacrifice.
These commands come immediately before the judgments that begin in the next verse. They establish the conditions under which the people may offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, and they tie every future act of worship to the places where the LORD chooses to cause his name to be remembered. The instructions therefore address a practical question raised by the theophany itself: how a people who have seen and heard the LORD from heaven should now approach him without turning the encounter into idolatry or irreverence. The verses matter because they open the legal material that follows by grounding it in the concrete requirements of the Sinai meeting rather than in later temple practice.
Where does this passage sit in Exodus?
The LORD’s address to Moses in 20:22 follows at once upon the people’s request that Moses speak to them instead of hearing the divine voice directly. The reminder that they have seen the LORD speak from heaven therefore links the altar instructions to the same Sinai encounter that produced the ten words. Verse 23 repeats the earlier ban on other gods but applies it specifically to the act of worship that will take place at an altar, tightening the connection between the Decalogue and the rules that follow.
The commands for an altar of soil or uncut stones occupy the center of the section. They specify the materials and the prohibition against steps so that the people may offer burnt offerings and peace offerings wherever the LORD causes his name to be remembered. These directions stand immediately before 21:1, which introduces the judgments Moses is to set before the people. The transition is unmarked; the altar rules simply end and the judgments begin, showing that both belong to the single body of instruction given after the mountain theophany.
Within the larger movement of Exodus, the same emphasis on proper approach to the LORD reappears when the tabernacle is later constructed and its bronze altar is built according to the pattern shown on the mountain. The brief instructions in 20:22–26 thus prepare for the longer collection of judgments that occupies the next three chapters while keeping the concern for acceptable worship at the center of the covenant relationship.
How is the passage structured?
The section opens with the LORD directing Moses to address the sons of Israel by recalling their direct experience of the divine voice from heaven. This reminder immediately narrows to a prohibition against making gods of silver alongside the LORD or gods of gold for themselves. The next verse shifts to construction: an altar of soil is prescribed, upon which burnt offerings and peace offerings from flock and cattle are to be presented. The same verse then broadens the location of acceptable worship to every place where the LORD causes his name to be remembered, with the promise of coming and blessing attached directly to that condition.
A conditional clause follows for the alternative of a stone altar. The rule against cut stones is stated with its rationale that any tool wielded upon them profanes the structure. The final altar regulation forbids steps, so that nakedness will not be uncovered upon it. These altar specifications stand as a self-contained block of directives that move from material choice to spatial restriction.
Verse 21:1 then marks an explicit transition by introducing the judgments that Moses is to set before the people. The sequence therefore moves from the theophany recollection and idol prohibition, through the detailed altar prescriptions with their successive qualifications, to the announcement of the judgments that follow. Each segment advances by adding a new layer of regulation while the closing formula signals the start of a distinct legal collection.
What is the historical background?
The altar rules address worship practices in a setting where sacrifices occurred at multiple sites before the later concentration of worship at a single sanctuary. An altar of soil could be raised quickly in any location where the LORD caused his name to be remembered, allowing the people to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings from their flocks and herds without permanent structures. This arrangement fit a community still traveling after the exodus and before the construction of the tabernacle.
When stone replaced soil, the stones had to remain in their natural state. Any use of a tool upon them would profane the altar. Ancient worship often treated worked stone as a potential medium for images, and the restriction kept the altar distinct from the silver and gold figures already forbidden in the same speech.
The ban on steps leading up to the altar protected the space from exposure during the act of sacrifice. Priests in this period wore simple linen garments that could shift when a person climbed, and the rule prevented any part of the body from being uncovered on the altar itself.
The final verse introduces the judgments that follow. In the legal customs of the surrounding cultures, judgments handled concrete disputes over property, injury, and household relations, supplying case-by-case decisions rather than the absolute commands delivered from the mountain. These judgments were to be set before the people as the immediate application of the covenant obligations just received.
What does this passage teach about God?
The LORD opens by reminding Moses that the people have already seen him speak from heaven. That visible and audible encounter supplies the ground for the commands that follow. Because the voice came directly from above, the people must not add gods of silver or gold. The prohibition is not abstract; it protects the relationship established when the LORD addressed them without any crafted image.
Worship is next defined by the altar itself. An altar of soil allows the offering of burnt offerings and peace offerings from flock and cattle. The LORD states that he will come and bless wherever he causes his name to be remembered. The promise of presence and blessing is therefore attached to the places he himself designates rather than to any site the people might choose. When stones are used instead, they must remain uncut; any tool wielded on them profanes the altar. The same concern for reverence appears in the ban on steps, which would expose nakedness during the ascent. These rules treat the altar as a site of approach that must stay free from human alteration or indecency.
The section ends by labeling the following material as judgments to be set before the people. The altar instructions therefore stand as the first concrete application of the covenant after the Ten Commandments. They show that loyalty to the LORD who spoke from heaven requires both the rejection of rival gods and the careful ordering of the places where offerings are presented. Human beings are addressed as those who have already witnessed the divine voice and must now respond with worship that preserves the holiness of that encounter.
What are the interpretive difficulties?
The altar instructions raise a practical question about their duration. The LORD directs Moses to tell the sons of Israel that they may build altars of soil or uncut stones wherever he causes his name to be remembered. Nothing in these verses indicates whether the permission remains in force after the tabernacle is built or whether it applies only until a single sanctuary is established. The text records the command immediately after the people have heard the LORD speak from heaven, yet it supplies no explicit limit or extension.
A second question concerns the prohibition on steps. The stated reason is that going up by steps would uncover nakedness upon the altar. The wording leaves open whether the concern is ritual exposure during sacrifice, the absence of proper priestly clothing at this stage, or a broader requirement of modesty before the LORD. No further explanation appears in the immediate context, and the passage does not describe what garments, if any, the offerer would wear.
The transition at 21:1 also stands without elaboration. After the altar rules, the LORD announces that these are the judgments which Moses shall set before them. The text does not clarify how the altar commands relate to the civil and criminal judgments that follow or whether the altar rules function as the first of those judgments. Readers therefore encounter a sequence that moves from worship practice to legal instruction without an explicit bridge.
Finally, the allowance for multiple altars of simple construction sits alongside the later requirement for a single bronze altar in the tabernacle. The present verses do not address how the two sets of directions will coexist or whether one supersedes the other. The passage records the command as given and leaves the resolution to later portions of the narrative.
Movement by movement
Reminder of Heavenly Speech20:22
The LORD opens by directing Moses to tell the sons of Israel that they have seen him speak with them from heaven. This recollection stands immediately after the people asked Moses to mediate rather than hear the voice themselves. By recalling the direct encounter, the command grounds what follows in an event the people already witnessed rather than in new revelation alone. The phrasing emphasizes visibility as well as hearing: they saw that the words came from above, without any image or intermediary on the mountain itself. That fact shapes the next instructions about silver and gold figures, because any crafted addition would contradict the manner in which the LORD has already addressed them. The reminder also prepares for the altar rules that follow, since acceptable worship must preserve the same direct relation established when the voice came from heaven. Moses receives the charge to repeat this statement to the people, so the memory of the encounter travels with every subsequent regulation about offerings and construction.
No Silver or Gold Gods20:23
The command stands immediately after the reminder that the sons of Israel have seen the LORD speak to them from heaven. It forbids making gods of silver with the LORD and gods of gold for themselves. The first clause rules out any silver image placed in the same sphere of worship as the one who has already addressed them from above. The second clause blocks gold images even when the people intend them only for their own possession. Both prohibitions use the same verb, yet the prepositions differ: silver gods are excluded from standing “with” the LORD, while gold gods are excluded when made “for yourselves.” This distinction keeps the focus on the direct heavenly address rather than on any object the people might introduce. The verse therefore narrows the earlier ban on other gods to the concrete act of fashioning metal representations that could accompany sacrifice. By placing this rule before the altar instructions, the text requires that any offering site remain free of crafted images from the outset.
Soil Altar and Promised Blessing20:24
The command specifies an altar of soil rather than cut stone or metal. On this surface the people are to present burnt offerings and peace offerings drawn from their flock and cattle. The choice of material allows an altar to be raised quickly at any stopping place and keeps the focus on the animals themselves rather than on crafted workmanship. The same verse then widens the horizon: the LORD states that he will come and bless in every place where he causes his name to be remembered. The promise therefore does not tie blessing to one fixed site but to the LORD’s own act of making his name known. The people’s part is to build the simple altar and bring the required animals; the LORD’s part is to choose the locations and to arrive with blessing. This arrangement follows directly from the reminder that the people have already heard the LORD speak from heaven, so their worship is to remain tied to that direct encounter rather than to additional images of silver or gold.
Restrictions on Stone Altars20:25-26
When an altar is made of stones rather than soil, the stones must remain untouched by any tool. The command states that building with cut stone profanes the altar because the worshiper has wielded a tool upon it. This rule keeps the material in its natural state, preventing human shaping from entering the place of sacrifice. The same concern for reverence appears in the next verse, which forbids steps leading up to the altar. Ascending by steps would risk exposing nakedness during the approach, and the text places that exposure directly upon the altar itself. Both restrictions therefore guard the altar from anything that would compromise its fitness for the LORD’s presence. The soil altar of the previous verse already allows worship in many locations; these stone rules simply tighten the conditions when more durable material is chosen. The emphasis falls on the physical act of construction and movement, not on later priestly garments or centralized worship.
Introduction of the Judgments21:1
Verse 21:1 states that these are the judgments Moses must set before the people. The sentence stands directly after the altar rules, so the judgments appear as the next portion of the same address the LORD gave Moses on the mountain. The people had already heard the divine voice from heaven, and the altar instructions had shown how that encounter should shape their worship through offerings of flock and cattle on soil or uncut stone. Now the LORD signals that further directions, called judgments, will also be placed before them. The wording keeps the focus on Moses as the one who transmits what he receives, without adding any new prohibition or construction detail. In this way the verse treats the altar commands and the judgments as successive parts of one revelation that began with the reminder of the heavenly voice. The announcement therefore prepares readers for rules that will govern everyday disputes while remaining anchored in the same encounter that produced the altar instructions.
Notes accompany the Anselm Project Bible, an AI translation from the original languages. Tap any verse above for the committee's word-level decisions.
Tap a verse