Skip to content
תעשה ל ארץ מ תחת ב מים ׀ ו אשר מ תחת ב ארץ ו אשר מ מעל ב שמים ׀ אשר תמונה ו כל פסל ׀ ל ך לא
she/yourself is makingto the earthfrom belowin the dual watersand whom/straightlyfrom belowin the earthand whom/straightlyfrom abovespices/in the dual heavenly oneswhichembodiment/formand every/allcarved imageto yourself/walknot
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
RBT Translation:
not you are making to yourself carved image and the whole embodiment/form straightly/whom in the dual heavenly ones from above and whom/straightly in the earth from below and whom/straightly in the dual waters from below to the earth
RBT Paraphrase:
She is not making4 to yourself a carved image, or any embodiment/form5 which is within the Dual Heavenly ones from above or which is within the Earth from below or which is within the Dual Waters from below the Earth.
The Commandments"she is not..."
Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
Thou shalt not make to thee a carved image, and every appearance that is in the heavens above, and that is in the earth beneath, and that is in the water under the earth.
LITV Translation:
You shall not make a graven image for yourself, or any likeness in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth;
Brenton Septuagint Translation:
Thou shalt not make to thyself an idol, nor likeness of anything, whatever things are in the heaven above, and whatever are in the earth beneath, and whatever are in the waters under the earth.

Footnotes

Exo. 20:4

Hebrew תעשה. You are making/she is making. The second person masculine and third person feminine are identical in the imperfect/incomplete form. The real question that apparently was never asked is, why would these commands be to only one person (in the second person singular) and not to the whole in the plural if that is the correct interpretation?

Exo. 20:4

Hebrew temunah. This sort of "embodiment, form, likeness" carries a positive connotation. As in something good:

>ותמנת יהוה יביט

And he is gazing intently on the embodiment/form [temunat] of He Is ("Yahweh")...

Numbers 12:8 RBT