The Second Commandment, prohibiting the making of graven images, reads: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. ... Most scholars agree that this commandment does not prohibit painting or sculpture except for purposes of idolatry.

What does the second commandment forbid?

The second Commandment forbids worship of man-made things that represent false gods. We usually think of “graven images” as idols, but we can make idols of anything we place before Jehovah. ... This Commandment is teaching that nothing should take the place of the personal presence of the Invisible God.

Does the second commandment prohibit art?

This event and the plurality of the language used in the second commandment leads many scholars to conclude that it prohibits the making of any image of Yahweh as well as any image of a created thing to which divinity would be ascribed.