To review, there are a total of eight different words translated "image." Only three of the eight are used in the commandment and Leviticus 26:1. The three Hebrew words used in the commandment are #4676, and #4906 and #6754. In general these three "image" items, or something about these items is prohibited,

(1) statues - graven image,

(2) memorial stones - standing image and

(3) carvings on a stone wall - image of stone.

The five other words translated "image" are:

(4) 5566 - The appearance of a man. (It looked like a man in the door way.)

(5) 6755 - An idol. (A statue of a god.)

(6) 6816 - Sculpture. (A statue such as a cherubim in the temple.)

(7) 8544 - Something that you see. (A man with poor eye sight has difficulty seeing.)

(8) 8655 - The appearance of a man. (It looked like someone was in the bed.)

With only ten commandments there is little room for duplication. Since The First Commandment forbidding other gods would also forbid idols (statues of gods), then why would God need a second commandment* to forbid the same thing? "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods, (including stone gods) before me."

With Only Ten Laws
There's No Room for Duplication

Numbers 21

8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

2 Kings 18

4 He (King Hezekiah**) removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

The image of the serpent of brass was destroyed, not because it violated the second commandment against 'images' but because it became an idol that the people worshiped in violation of the first commandment forbidding having other gods. They worshiped it by burning incense unto it. The sick were probably praying to it for healing.

* Catholics and Protestants number the commandments differently as explained on the prior page. To a Catholic "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" is part of the First Commandment. To a Protestant, The Second Commandment is "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image."

** Notice it was the king, not the clergy who destroyed the idol.

What difference would it make?

Ask yourself this question about each of the ten commandments, "Would public obedience to this particular commandment have any significant effect on America?" With nine of the ten commandments the answer is "Yes!".

Thou shalt not covet would destroy afternoon television programming.

Thou shalt not commit adultery would redo Hollywood movies and destroy the pornography business.

Voluntary obedience to the above two would also restore stable homes life with few divorces.

Thou shalt not kill would eliminate the abortion industry and restore white population growth to North America. That alone would turn the tide of alien immigration. No one is forced to do business at the abortion clinic. Everyone walks in the door voluntarily. But if the clinics were boycotted, the toy and diaper business would be booming.

Thou shalt not steal would turn upside down the banking industry and depopulate Las Vegas. Local and state governments would have to stop stealing via lotteries. Citizens would have more money to purchase goods and services. (What was once illegal to gangsters, gambling, is now legal in government.)

BUT if the second commandment forbids religious images, it would affect very few people. Some churches would change their decorations. National voluntary obedience to this second commandment would have no significant effect on the general public, government, business or industry.

In fact the second commandment as presently taught by the churches could be eliminated and its loss would not even be noticed.

So what is it really all about?

A word about words.

This document was prepared with the help of a mouse. Unless you are "computer wise" you will not understand that "a mouse" is not a little furry rodent but rather a piece of electronic equipment. So a "mouse" is not always a mouse.

A "house" may not be a "house." We think of a "house" as a home that people live in. But it could be a business such as "The House of Rothschild." It could be a part of the government such as the House of Representatives which is commonly known as "The House"

Micah 6

16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

This is like saying;

For the Executive orders of the President are kept, and all the works of the House of Representatives, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

How about this jargon, "We got a Smokie the Bear in the grass taking pictures." That is how a truck driver communicates over a Citizen's Band Radio. He is telling other truckers that, "A police officer is in the highway median strip checking speed with a radar unit."

What does this mean in Citizens Radio language? "There is a salt shaker ahead." In this case a "salt shaker" is not an item on a dining room table, rather it is winter time highway maintenance vehicle spreading salt on the highway.

If you told Moses "I was stoned last night" he might wonder how you are alive today. In modern slang all you said was, "I was drunk last night."

We said all this to point out that words do change in meaning. Sometimes words have special meanings, and sometimes the understanding is much different from the dictionary understanding. Our examples were "mouse", "house," "bear" and "salt shaker." A "bear" is not a bear., A "mouse" is not a mouse. A "salt shaker" is not a salt shaker and;

When a statue is not a statue.

The Hebrew words in the Bible translated "statute" are # 2706 and 2708. Here is an example,

Deuteronomy 6

1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes (2706), and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

2 That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes (2708) and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged".

Here we have reproduced a portion of the Hebrew dictionary from Strong's concordance. Look up the two words translated "statute" in Deuteronomy 6:1-2. They are words number 2706 and 2708.

02706 choq {khoke} from 02710; TWOT - 728a; n m AV - statute 87, ordinance 9, decree 7, due 4, law 4, portion 3, bounds 2, custom 2, appointed 1, commandments 1, misc 7; 127 1) statute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed, due 1a) prescribed task 1b) prescribed portion 1c) action prescribed (for oneself), resolve 1d) prescribed due 1e) prescribed limit, boundary 1f) enactment, decree, ordinance 1f1) specific decree 1f2) law in general 1g) enactments, statutes 1g1) conditions 1g2) enactments 1g3) decrees 1g4) civil enactments prescribed by God	Statutes
02707 chaqah {khaw-kaw'} a primitive root; TWOT - 727; v AV - portrayed 2, carved work 1, set a print 1; 4 1) to cut, carve, cut in 1a) (Pual) carved (participle) 1b) (Hithpael) to engrave, cut a limit	Statues
02708 chuqqah {khook-kaw'} from 02706; TWOT - 728b; n f AV - statute 77, ordinance 22, custom 2, appointed 1, manners 1, rites 1; 104 1) statute, ordinance, limit, enactment, something prescribed 1a) statute	Statutes