You shall have no other gods besides Me

(ג) לֹֽ֣א יִהְיֶֽה־לְךָ֛֩ אֱלֹהִ֥֨ים אֲחֵרִ֖֜ים עַל־פָּנָֽ֗יַ (ד) לֹֽ֣א תַֽעֲשֶׂ֨ה־לְךָ֥֣ פֶ֣֙סֶל֙ ׀ וְכָל־תְּמוּנָ֡֔ה אֲשֶׁ֤֣ר בַּשָּׁמַ֣֙יִם֙ ׀ מִמַּ֡֔עַל וַֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר֩ בָּאָ֖֨רֶץ מִתַָּ֑֜חַת וַאֲשֶׁ֥֣ר בַּמַּ֖֣יִם ׀ מִתַּ֥֣חַת לָאָֽ֗רֶץ (ה) לֹֽא־תִשְׁתַּחְוֶ֥֣ה לָהֶ֖ם֮ וְלֹ֣א תָעָבְדֵ֑ם֒ כִּ֣י אָֽנֹכִ֞י יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ אֵ֣ל קַנָּ֔א פֹּ֠קֵד עֲוֺ֨ן אָבֹ֧ת עַל־בָּנִ֛ים עַל־שִׁלֵּשִׁ֥ים וְעַל־רִבֵּעִ֖ים לְשֹׂנְאָֽ֑י׃ (ו) וְעֹ֥֤שֶׂה חֶ֖֙סֶד֙ לַאֲלָפִ֑֔ים לְאֹהֲבַ֖י וּלְשֹׁמְרֵ֥י מִצְוֺתָֽי׃ (ס)

Exodus 20:3-6

(3) You shall have no other gods besides Me. (4) You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. (5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the Eternal your God am an jealous God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, (6) but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

שמות ל״ד:י״ד

(יד) כִּ֛י לֹ֥א תִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֖ה לְאֵ֣ל אַחֵ֑ר כִּ֤י יְהוָה֙ קַנָּ֣א שְׁמ֔וֹ אֵ֥ל קַנָּ֖א הֽוּא׃

Exodus 34:14

(14) for you must not worship any other god, because the Eternal, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

שמות ל״ד:י״ז

(יז) אֱלֹהֵ֥י מַסֵּכָ֖ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשֶׂה־לָּֽךְ׃

Exodus 34:17

(17) You shall not make molten gods for yourselves.

דברים ד׳:ט״ו-י״ט

(טו) וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם מְאֹ֖ד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם כִּ֣י לֹ֤א רְאִיתֶם֙ כָּל־תְּמוּנָ֔ה בְּי֗וֹם דִּבֶּ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה אֲלֵיכֶ֛ם בְּחֹרֵ֖ב מִתּ֥וֹךְ הָאֵֽשׁ׃ (טז) פֶּ֨ן־תַּשְׁחִת֔וּן וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥ם לָכֶ֛ם פֶּ֖סֶל תְּמוּנַ֣ת כָּל־סָ֑מֶל תַּבְנִ֥ית זָכָ֖ר א֥וֹ נְקֵבָֽה׃ (יז) תַּבְנִ֕ית כָּל־בְּהֵמָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר בָּאָ֑רֶץ תַּבְנִית֙ כָּל־צִפּ֣וֹר כָּנָ֔ף אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּע֖וּף בַּשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ (יח) תַּבְנִ֕ית כָּל־רֹמֵ֖שׂ בָּאֲדָמָ֑ה תַּבְנִ֛ית כָּל־דָּגָ֥ה אֲשֶׁר־בַּמַּ֖יִם מִתַּ֥חַת לָאָֽרֶץ׃ (יט) וּפֶן־תִּשָּׂ֨א עֵינֶ֜יךָ הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וְֽ֠רָאִיתָ אֶת־הַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ וְאֶת־הַיָּרֵ֜חַ וְאֶת־הַכּֽוֹכָבִ֗ים כֹּ֚ל צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנִדַּחְתָּ֛ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִ֥יתָ לָהֶ֖ם וַעֲבַדְתָּ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר חָלַ֜ק יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ אֹתָ֔ם לְכֹל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים תַּ֖חַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃

Deuteronomy 4:15-19

(15) For your own sake, therefore, be most careful—since you saw no shape when the Eternal your God spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire— (16) not to act wickedly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness whatever: the form of a man or a woman, (17) the form of any beast on earth, the form of any winged bird that flies in the sky, (18) the form of anything that creeps on the ground, the form of any fish that is in the waters below the earth. (19) And when you look up to the sky and behold the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole heavenly host, you must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them. These the Eternal your God allotted to other peoples everywhere under heaven;

ישעיהו ב׳:ה׳-ט׳

(ה) בֵּ֖ית יַעֲקֹ֑ב לְכ֥וּ וְנֵלְכָ֖ה בְּא֥וֹר יְהוָֽה׃ (ו) כִּ֣י נָטַ֗שְׁתָּה עַמְּךָ֙ בֵּ֣ית יַעֲקֹ֔ב כִּ֤י מָלְאוּ֙ מִקֶּ֔דֶם וְעֹֽנְנִ֖ים כַּפְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים וּבְיַלְדֵ֥י נָכְרִ֖ים יַשְׂפִּֽיקוּ׃ (ז) וַתִּמָּלֵ֤א אַרְצוֹ֙ כֶּ֣סֶף וְזָהָ֔ב וְאֵ֥ין קֵ֖צֶה לְאֹצְרֹתָ֑יו וַתִּמָּלֵ֤א אַרְצוֹ֙ סוּסִ֔ים וְאֵ֥ין קֵ֖צֶה לְמַרְכְּבֹתָֽיו׃ (ח) וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א אַרְצ֖וֹ אֱלִילִ֑ים לְמַעֲשֵׂ֤ה יָדָיו֙ יִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֔וּ לַאֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשׂ֖וּ אֶצְבְּעֹתָֽיו׃ (ט) וַיִּשַּׁ֥ח אָדָ֖ם וַיִּשְׁפַּל־אִ֑ישׁ וְאַל־תִּשָּׂ֖א לָהֶֽם׃

Isaiah 2:5-9

(5) O House of Jacob! Come, let us walk By the light of the Eternal. (6) For you have forsaken [the ways of] your people, O House of Jacob! For they are full [of practices] from the East, And of soothsaying like the Philistines; They abound in customs of the aliens. (7) Their land is full of silver and gold, There is no limit to their treasures; Their land is full of horses, There is no limit to their chariots. (8) And their land is full of idols; They bow down to the work of their hands, To what their own fingers have wrought. (9) But man shall be humbled, And mortal brought low— Oh, do not forgive them!

Emendation of the text in orange yields "And their idols with them" (The Jewish Study Bible, 2014, p. 771)

חזקוני, שמות כ׳:ד׳:א׳

לא תעשה לך פסל וכל תמונה במקום אחר הוא אומר הטעם כי לא ראיתם כל תמונה, שלא תאמר אתה אל מסתתר ואין רואך אעשה לי פסילים לזכרונך להשתחות לך לכבודך.

Chizkuni, Exodus 20:4:1

לא תעשה לך פסל וכל תמונה, “do not make for yourself a sculptured image or any likeness (of what is in heaven above or on earth below)” In Deuteronomy 4,15 the Torah supplies the reason for this prohibition when we read: “for you have not seen any likeness (at the revelation)”. You should not be able to say that I am a God Who hides Himself, and since no one can see You I am forced to make for myself an image in order to constantly remind myself of You and to prostrate myself before Your image instead, in Your honour.

ספורנו על שמות כ׳:ד׳:א׳

לא תעשה לך פסלי אפילו שלא לעבדו:

Sforno on Exodus 20:4:1

לא תעשה לך פסל, even if you do not mean to use it as an object of worship.

ספר החינוך כ״ח:א׳

שלא להשתחות לעבודה זרה - שלא להשתחות לעבודה זרה, וע''ז היא כל שעבוד זולתי האל ברוך הוא, שנאמר (שמות כ ה) לא תשתחוה להם ולא תעבדם. ואין פרוש הכתוב לא תשתחוה על מנת לעבוד שנלמד ממנו שהשתחואה לבד, שלא לכונת עבודה, שלא יהא אסור, שהרי במקום אחר נאמר בתורה (שם לד יד) כי לא תשתחוה לאל אחר, שאסרה ההשתחואה לבד בשום צד. ואמנם סמך אליה ולא תעבדם לומר, שהשתחואה היא אחת מדרכי העבודה. ולמדנו מכאן עם סיוע כתובים אחרים שארבע עבודות הן שהקפידה התורה בהן בכל עבודה זרה שבעולם, ואפילו אין דרך עבודתה בכך חיבין עליהן, ואחת מהן השתחואה.

Sefer HaChinukh 28:1

To not bow down to idolatry: To not bow down to idolatry - and idolatry is anything that is worshiped besides God, blessed be He - as it is stated (Exodus 20:5), "You shall not bow down to them or serve them." And the explanation of the verse is not "do not bow down to them with the intention of worship," [so] that we would learn that bowing down, by itself - without the intention of worship - would not be forbidden. As behold, in another place, it is stated in the Torah (Exodus 34:14), "For you must not bow down to another god," which forbade bowing down by itself, from any angle. Rather, [the reason] it made "or serve them" adjacent, [is] to say that bowing down is one of the ways of worship. And we learn from here, with the assistance of other verses, that there are four worships about which the Torah is insistent with any idolatry in the world - and even if it is not the way of its worship, we are liable for it. And one of [these four] is bowing down.

סנהדרין ס״א א:ט״ו

היכא דפלחו כולי עלמא לא פליגי דכתיב (שמות כ, ג) לא תעשה לך פסל כי פליגי בדיבורא בעלמא רבי מאיר סבר דיבורא מילתא היא ורבי יהודה סבר דיבורא לאו מילתא היא

Sanhedrin 61a:15

The Gemara explains: In a case where those to whom the inciter spoke subsequently worshiped him, everyone agrees that the inciter is liable, as it is written: “You shall not make yourself a graven image” (Exodus 20:4), which is interpreted to include a case where one establishes himself as a god. When they disagree is in a case where the incident ended in mere speech. Rabbi Meir holds that speech is a significant matter, and therefore the inciter is liable for incitement, and Rabbi Yehuda holds that speech is nothing. Therefore, the contradiction between the mishnayot can be resolved by attributing each mishna to a different tanna.

סנהדרין ס״א ב:כ׳

אמר אביי מנא אמינא לה דתניא (שמות כ, ד) לא תשתחוה להם להם אי אתה משתחוה אבל אתה משתחוה לאדם כמותך יכול אפילו נעבד כהמן ת"ל (שמות כ, ד) ולא תעבדם והא המן מיראה הוה נעבד

Sanhedrin 61b:20

Abaye attempts to cite another proof for his opinion. He said: From where do I say that one who worships idols due to love or fear is liable? As it is taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “You shall not bow to them nor worship them” (Exodus 20:5): “To them,” to idols, you may not bow, but you may bow to a person like yourself; bowing to a person is merely the acceptance of authority. One might have thought that it is permitted to bow even to a person who is worshipped like a god, like Haman; therefore, the verse states: “Nor worship them,” i.e., any form of pagan worship is prohibited. Abaye concludes: And wasn’t Haman worshipped due to fear, and not because the people considered him a god? Evidently, one who engages in idol worship due to fear is liable.

רש"י על שמות ל״ד:י״ד:א׳

קנא שמו. מְקַנֵּא לִפָּרַע וְאֵינוֹ מְוַתֵּר, וְזֶהוּ כָּל לְשׁוֹן קִנְאָה – אוֹחֵז בְּנִצְחוֹנוֹ וּפוֹרֵעַ מֵאוֹיְבָיו:

Rashi on Exodus 34:14:1

קנא שמו WHOSE NAME IS קנא — Who is zealous (מקנא) to exact punishment from the sinners and is not indulgent towards idolatry. This (the above) is always the meaning of the root קנא wherever it is used in connection with God. Consequently קנא שמו His name (His characteristic) is קַנָּא that of a zealot, implies: He maintains (insists upon) his superiority over other gods, and punishes His enemies (those who worship idols).

ספורנו על שמות ל״ד:י״ד:ב׳

כי ה' קנא שמו כי שמו מורה על מין מציאות שלא ייוחס לשום נמצא זולתו, לפיכך אל קנא הוא, להפרע מן העובד אחר עמו:

Sforno on Exodus 34:14:2

כי ה' קנא שמו, God’s very name suggests that He cannot tolerate any other existence in the universe that purports to be independent of Him, in competition with Him. This is why He is known (in the Ten Commandments) as “a jealous God.” This means that He will punish those who serve the “competition.”