I am the Lord thy God,.... This is the preface to the ten commandments, and is the same with that in Exo 20:2; see Gill on Exo 20:2, and those commands are here delivered in the same order, and pretty near in the same words, with a little variation, and a few additions; which I shall only observe, and refer to Exo 20:1 for the sense of the various laws. for the sense of the various laws. Deuteronomy 5:12 deu 5:12 deu 5:12 deu 5:12Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it,.... Or observe it, by setting it apart as a time of natural rest, and for the performance of holy and religious exercises; see Exo 20:8, where the phrase is a little varied, "remember the sabbath day to keep it holy"; it having been instituted before: as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; not at Sinai only, for the same might then have been observed of all the rest of the commands, but before the giving of the law, at the first of the manna; see Exo 16:23.