No Other Gods Before Me?

[DiRNiS]

Okay, here is my dilemma. Perhaps someone could help me with this, or put on a theist hat and pretend, but this is seriously troubling to me.

In the 10 Commandments - god makes sure to be perfectly clear that he only wants you to worship him/her/whatever and that you must not have any other gods. Now, being an omniscient god, is this admittance that there ARE other gods out there? Because, if there are not, then what would be the point of even wasting several commandments for nothing? I'm super curious if there's any sort of apologetic argument for this.

I hope this makes sense, and I am well aware that I may not get a rational answer considering the subject, but I have to try!

I think theists would normally reply that he is just making clear he is the only god and there are no other gods to worship but him and he would punish anyone who worships any false gods (as in non-existent gods).

But of course, the 10 commandments (which have different versions depending on the religion), were not written by any god but by men of the time. They have even been slightly altered and updated to reflect more recent times and to suit the purposes of particular religions.

Don't get too caught up questioning biblical quotes. After all, it is a fictional book. Questioning stories of the bible is like questioning whether J. K. Rowling originally meant to make Harry Potter a boy or a girl. OK, probably not a good example but I'm sure you get the idea.