To this great moral law of ten commandments we now give special attention and note――That its introduction (Ex. 20: 2), “I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt――out of the house of bondage”――is special――not general and universal; is adapted to the circumstances of Israel, and gives a special reason why _they_ should honor this law as coming from the God of their national covenant, the Redeemer and Savior of their nation. On the one hand this special reason why Israel should render supreme homage to Jehovah as their Deliverer from Egyptian bondage neither applies specifically to all mankind, nor does it imply that this law is not binding on other people than Israel. It was pertinent that as given originally to them it should be preceded and introduced by this special consideration, so pertinent to their case. Yet it should be thoughtfully considered――God might have said most truly to every child of his great human family――I am He who gave thee thy being and every good; and therefore I claim thy supreme love and homage.――――I see no reason to question that this clause was put on the two tables of stone――its special introduction as given to the children of Israel. I. In the first precept, the words “before me” are construed variously. The most usual and obvious translation of the Hebrew words is――_before my face_. In some connections the preposition might mean _upon_ or _above_. “My face” is thought by some to be merely equivalent to _myself_. Keil translates――“literally _beyond me_, or in addition to me, equivalent to except me, or by the side of me.” He rejects the construction, “before me” (in my presence) as incorrect, and also condemns _against me_――in opposition to me. Fuerst has it “above _i. e._ except me.” Murphy says――“before me” is literally “upon my face.” It supposes those other gods to be set up _before_ the true God as antagonists in the eye of God and as casting a shade over his eternal being and incommunicable glory in the eye of worshipers.――――The two constructions――_beyond_ me and _above_ me――are open to the objection that they seem tacitly to admit other gods provided they are inferior and that God is supreme. I prefer as the more obvious and natural construction――_before my face_. Thus the precept forbids homage to any other god in the presence of the supreme and omniscient Jehovah; and by consequence, forbids divine honor to any other being or thing whatsoever. “Thou shalt have no other gods _before my face_” seems to imply that the least acknowledgment of other gods is in its very nature an insult to Jehovah, as if it thrust those gods into his very face――held them up before his eye as more worthy of homage than he. Moreover, as no possible worship of other gods can escape his eye, or be otherwise than thrust up before his face, the prohibition necessarily shuts off all such worship. You may never worship other gods than the One Supreme Being, for it is simply impossible that any