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"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" is one of the Ten Commandments found in the Hebrew Bible (; Exodus 20:3 = Deuteronomy 5:7).〔Ten Commandments, in ''HarperCollins Bible Dictionary'', 1996, Achtemeier Paul J., ed., New York:HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 0-06-060037-3. LXX gives two slightly different renditions of the identical Hebrew verses: vs. 〕 This commandment establishes the exclusive nature of the relationship between the nation of Israel and its national god, Yahweh the god of Israel,〔God: names of God, in ''Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible'', 1986. Wigoder, Geoffrey, ed., G.G. The Jerusalem Publishing House ISBN 0-89577-407-0〕 a covenant initiated by Yahweh after delivering the Israelites from slavery through the plagues of Egypt and the Exodus.〔Moses, ''World Book Encyclopedia'' 1998, Chicago:World Book Inc., ISBN 0-7166-0098-6〕 In a general sense, idolatry is the paying of divine honor to any created thing.〔Idol, Image, in ''The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary,'' 2006. Unger, Merrill F., Harrison, R.K., ed. Chicago: Moody Publishers ISBN 0-8024-9066-2〕 In ancient times, opportunities to participate in the honor or worship of other deities abounded. However, according to the Book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites were strictly warned to neither adopt nor adapt any of the religious practices of the peoples around them.〔Deuteronomy 12:4,31; (''Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible'' ), Commentary on Deuteronomy 12〕 Nevertheless, the story of the people of Israel until the Babylonian Captivity is the story of the violation of the first commandment by the worship of “foreign gods” and its consequences. Much of biblical preaching from the time of Moses to the exile is predicated on the either-or choice between exclusive worship of God and false gods.〔Idolatry, ''HarperCollins Bible Dictionary'', 1996, Achtemeier Paul J., ed., New York:HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 0-06-060037-3〕 The Babylonian exile seems to have been a turning point after which the Jewish people as a whole were strongly monotheistic and willing to fight battles (such as the Maccabean Revolt) and face martyrdom before paying homage to any other god.〔Idol: In the Exile and After, in ''HarperCollins Bible Dictionary'', 1996, Achtemeier Paul J., ed., New York:HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 0-06-060037-3〕 The Shema and its accompanying blessing/curse reveals the intent of the commandment to include love for the one, true God and not only recognition or outward observance.〔Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Wylen, Stephen M., ''Settings of Silver: an introduction to Judaism'', 2000, Paulist Press, ISBN 0-8091-3960-X pp.104〕 In the gospels, Jesus quotes the Shema as the first and greatest commandment,〔Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; Shema, in ''HarperCollins Bible Dictionary'', 1996, Achtemeier Paul J., ed., New York:HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 0-06-060037-3〕 and the apostles after him preached that those who would follow Christ must turn from idols. The Catholic Catechism as well as Reformation and post-Reformation theologians teach that the commandment applies in modern times and prohibits the worship of physical idols, the seeking of spiritual activity or guidance from any other source (e.g. magical, astrological, etc.), and the focus on temporal priorities such as self (food, physical pleasures), work, and money, for examples.〔Idolatry: Figurative, in ''The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary'', 2006. Unger, Merrill F., Harrison, R.K., ed., Chicago: Moody Publishers, ISBN 0-8024-9066-2〕 The Catholic Catechism commends those who refuse even to simulate such worship in a cultural context, since “the duty to offer God authentic worship concerns man both as an individual and as a social being.”〔Catechism of the Catholic Church 2136〕 == Ancient understanding == The name "Elohim", with the masculine plural ending, does not mean "gods" when referring to the god of Israel, and in such cases is (usually) used with singular verbs, adjectives, and pronouns (for example, in Gen. 1:26). In the traditional Jewish view, Elohim is the name of God as the creator and judge of the universe (Gen 1:1-2:4a).〔http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Elohim/elohim.html〕 H430 אלהים 'ĕlôhı̂ym el-o-heem': Plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative: - angels, X exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.〔Strong's Bible Concordance〕 According to some contemporary scholarship, the Second Commandment is presented in deliberate distinction to the Golden Calf, which represents moral systems that place undue emphasis on the worldly categories of power, beauty, and the works of our own hands.〔David Hazony, (The Ten Commandments ) (Scribner, 2010), ch. 2.〕 It is part of the narrative developed in the texts that would later be collected in the Hebrew Bible during the 7th century BC, establishing a long history of national identity, originating with the remote founding-father Abraham, to whom the God that would later identify Himself as Yahweh first revealed Himself.〔Joshua 24:2; (John Calvin (1509-1564) ''Commentary on Joshua'' ), Commentary on Joshua 24:2〕〔Genesis 12:1; Idolatry, ; Idol, Image, in ''The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary'', 2006. Unger, Merrill F., Harrison, R.K., ed., Chicago: Moody Publishers, ISBN 0-8024-9066-2〕 The name Yahweh comes up in the narrative of the Book of Exodus, where Moses encounters God at the burning bush. At this point, God reveals His proper name ''Yahweh'' for the first time, identifying Himself as identical with the God already encountered by Moses' ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel): In the Exodus narrative, after about 400 years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites are delivered through the plagues of Egypt. After Moses leads them out in the Exodus, Yahweh makes a covenant with the Israelites on the basis of this deliverance.〔Moses, ''World Book Encyclopedia'' 1998, Chicago:World Book Inc., ISBN 0-7166-0098-6〕 The Ten Commandments summarize the terms of this covenant, beginning with the commandment to have no other gods before him. Seemingly unrelated prohibitions, such as not to sow mixed seed, wear clothing of mixed fibers, or mark one’s body (i.e., tattoo), were possibly intended to keep the Israelites separate from practices associated with magical benefits or the honor of other deities.〔Leviticus 19:28; Idol, Image, in ''The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary'', 2006. Unger, Merrill F., Harrison, R.K., ed., Chicago: Moody Publishers, ISBN 0-8024-9066-2〕 The individual who violated this commandment was subject to destruction on the testimony of two witnesses, and should the worship of other gods pervade the nation, it was subject to destruction as a whole〔Exodus 22:20; Deuteronomy 13:6-10; Idolatry: Penalties, in ''The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary'', 2006. Unger, Merrill F., Harrison, R.K., ed., Chicago: Moody Publishers, ISBN 0-8024-9066-2〕 A person who attempted to involve others in worship of a false god was similarly subject to capital punishment and was not to be spared even by a close relative.〔Deuteronomy 17:2-7; Deuteronomy 13:6-10; Harper, William R., ''The Old and New Testament Student'', 1891, Hartford:The Student Publishing Company, p.201〕 God’s interest in exclusive worship is portrayed as a strong jealousy, like that of a husband for his wife. “Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for Yahweh your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and His anger will burn against you, and He will destroy you from the face of the land.”〔Deuteronomy 6:14-15; God, ''Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible'', 1986. Wigoder, Geoffrey, ed., G.G. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 0-89577-407-0〕 Despite this personal relationship and its exclusive conditions, the story of the people of Israel until the Babylonian Captivity is the story of the violation of the first commandment by the worship of “foreign gods” and its consequences. Not only did the common people substitute Canaanite gods and worship for the one true God, polytheism and worship of foreign gods became virtually official in both the northern and southern kingdoms despite repeated warnings from the prophets of God.〔God in the OT, ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary'', Vol II, 1992. Freedman, David Noel, ed., New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-19360-2〕 Despite the clear victory and winning of the people’s allegiance that day, the official, polytheistic policy propelled by King Ahab’s wife Jezebel was unchanged. Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Hosea referred to Israel’s worship of other gods as spiritual adultery:〔Jeremiah 3:6-9, 5:7, Ezekiel 16:38, 23:37, Hosea 1:2; Adultery: OT Words, in ''Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Word studies for key English Bible words based on the Hebrew and Greek Texts'', Renn, Stephen D., ed., 2005, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., ISBN 978-1-56563-938-6〕 “How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols.”〔Ezekiel 6:9; Tuell, Steven, ''The New International Bible Commentary: Ezekiel'', 2009, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., p. 33, ISBN 978-1-85364-736-9〕 This led to a broken covenant between Yahweh and Israel and “divorce,”〔Jeremiah 3:8; Ryken P.G. and Hughes R.K., ''Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope'', Chapter 3:God Files for Divorce, 2001, Crossway Publishers, ISBN 1-58134-167-9〕 manifested as defeat by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon followed by exile, from which the northern kingdom never recovered. The Bible presents Daniel and his companions as distinct, positive examples of individuals refusing to pay homage to another god, even at the price of their lives. During the time of the exile, Nebuchadnezzar erects a gold statue of himself and commands all subjects to worship it. Three Jewish officials – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – who had been taken to Babylon as youths along with Daniel, refuse to bow to the statue. As they face being burned alive in a furnace, they communicate their faith as well as their resolve: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."〔Daniel 3:17-18; Telushkin, Joseph, ''Jewish Literacy: The most important things to know about the Jewish religion, its people and its history'', 1991, William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-08506-7 pp. 80-81〕 In the later reign of Darius, Daniel’s refusal to give up private prayer to God and pray to the king instead results in him receiving a death sentence: being thrown into the lions’ den.〔Dan’iel, in ''The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary'', 2006. Unger, Merrill F., Harrison, R.K., ed. Chicago: Moody Publishers ISBN 0-8024-9066-2〕 According to the Book of Daniel, an angel comes and shuts the mouths of the lions so that Daniel is spared and rescued by the king himself the following morning.〔Daniel 6; Walvoord J.F. and Zuck R. B.; ''The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament'', 1983, Colorado Springs:David C. Cook, p. 1349, ISBN 978-0-88207-813-7〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thou shalt have no other gods before me」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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