Exodus 20:3

Summary

Exodus 20:3 states a negative imperfect verb construction: there will not be for the addressee (second person masculine singular) 'elohim ("gods", H0430J) that are 'acherim ("other", H0312), positioned 'al-panay ("upon my face", H6440G + H9020) — i.e., in the speaker's presence. The verse is structured as a prohibition expressed through a future/durative verbal form rather than an imperative.

Key words

• lo' ("not", H3808) — negation particle placed before the verb, standard construction for prohibitions in Biblical Hebrew legal/covenantal style.
• yihyeh ("it will be", H1961) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular; the imperfect aspect conveys ongoing or future action, so the clause reads as "there will not be/exist," not a direct command like "do not have."
• lekha ("to you", H9005+H9031) — preposition le with second-person masculine singular suffix, marking the addressee as the one for whom something would or would not exist (a possessive/dative construction: "there will not be to you").
• 'elohim 'acherim ("other gods", H0430J + H0312) — masculine plural noun followed by masculine plural adjective in agreement; the plural form 'elohim here functions with a plural adjective and plural predicate, marking it as referring to multiple deities rather than a singular deity title.
• panay ("my face/presence", H6440G + H9020) — plural construct noun panim ("face") with first-person singular suffix; the construct form governs the phrase "upon the face of me," an idiom rather than a literal reference to a face.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built around the verb yihyeh ("it will be") negated by lo', producing a clause of non-existence rather than a direct second-person imperative. The dative-like preposition le + suffix (lekha) identifies for whom this non-existence applies — "there will not be, for you." The subject of the verb is 'elohim 'acherim, grammatically plural in both noun and adjective, agreeing in number and gender. The final phrase 'al-panay uses the construct noun panim ("face") with a first-person suffix, forming an idiom that locates the negated gods spatially "upon my face," conventionally rendered "before me" in translation, though the literal components are "upon" ('al) and "face of me" (panay).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the final phrase as πλὴν ἐμοῦ ("except me"), which expresses exclusivity rather than the Hebrew's spatial/presential idiom "upon my face." The Vulgate's coram me ("before me," "in my presence") stays closer to the Hebrew panim-idiom of facing/presence. The Vulgate also adds alienos ("foreign," "strange") as a descriptor for the gods, corresponding to Hebrew 'acherim ("other"), while the LXX uses ἕτεροι ("other/different"), both translating the same Hebrew adjective with slightly different connotations (foreign vs. simply other).