You shall not make uses the same form as the Ten Commandments, but here the you is plural and more emphatic. Durham has “You must not make.” Gods of silver to be with me is literally “with me; gods [ʾelohim] of silver.” This reveals a problem in the text, in that the Hebrew actually places to be with me after the verb and then marks it as a complete clause, literally “You [plural] shall not make with me.” This is difficult to understand, for it does not indicate what should not be made. The probable meaning is “You shall not make anything to rank with me” (so New American Bible) or “to be alongside me” (New International Version). American Standard Version and New American Standard Bible add the words “other gods,” using italics to show they are added. Durham has “You must not make rivals with me.”

This means that gods of silver really goes with gods of gold in the second clause, which has its own verb. New Revised Standard Version follows Revised Standard Version in advancing gods of silver to the first clause: “You shall not make gods of silver alongside me.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and New Jerusalem Bible also retain two clauses and advance gods of silver to the first clause. But Good News Translation combines the two clauses by considering gods of silver and gods of gold to be the intended objects of both verbs: “Do not make for yourselves gods of silver and gold in addition to me.” Contemporary English Version has “So you must never make idols of silver or gold to worship in place of me.” (See the comment on gods at 12.12.)

Nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold is literally “and gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.” It should be noted, however, that silver and gold usually go together as an idiom, and the Hebrew punctuation keeps gods of silver … gods of gold as one clause. In some languages this verse will be rendered in a way similar to the following: “You must not make likenesses [or, images] of gods out of silver or gold to worship in place of me.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .