---
title: Exodus 20:3
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/exodus-20-3/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/exodus-20-3.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Exodus 20:3
testament: OT
section: Law
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Exodus 20:3

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> You shall have no other gods before Me.

## JW Usage

JWs cite the first commandment — "You must not have any other gods besides me" — to argue that Jesus cannot be God because worshipping two gods would violate strict monotheism. The NWT's rendering of John 1:1c as "the Word was a god" is defended on the basis that "god" (theos) can be used as a title for powerful beings without implying full deity. The commandment is read as applying only to "Almighty God," leaving room for lesser divine beings.

## Protestant Usage

The first commandment does not say "no other almighty gods" — it says "no other gods." Full stop. The NWT's rendering of John 1:1 as "the Word was a god" creates an inescapable trilemma: either Jesus is (1) a true god — which is polytheism, violating Exodus 20:3, Isaiah 43:10, and Isaiah 44:8; (2) a false god — in which case Christians should reject him entirely; or (3) the one true God — which is the trinitarian position. Isaiah 43:10 closes the door: "Before me no god was formed, and after me there has been none." Isaiah 44:6-8 adds: "Is there any God but me? There is no other Rock; I know not one." First Corinthians 8:4 confirms: "there is no God but one." If no other gods exist, Jesus cannot be "a god" — he is either a false god or he is Jehovah.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- ['A God' = Polytheism](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john1-polytheism.md) — John 1:1 + Exodus 20:3 + Isaiah 43:10 [Deity of Christ]
- [Images Are Not the Problem — Worship Is](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/images-in-worship-protestant-response.md) — Numbers 21:8 / 2 Kings 18:4 / Exodus 25:18 [Practice]