What are the Ten Commandments?     

The Ten Commandments (also called the “Decalogue”) comprise a short list of religious and ethical demands established by God and given to the people of ancient Israel.  The Ten Commandments are of continuing authority for the Jewish and Christian communities today.

 

Where in the Bible can we find the Ten Commandments?

The Old Testament has a number of Decalogues (ten words) or Decalogue-like formulas.

  Exodus 34:17-26
 Deuteronomy 27:15-26
Leviticus 19

What Christians (and Jews) traditionally recognize as the Ten Commandments is Exodus 20. Yet, a very close parallel to Exodus 20 is Deuteronomy 5.

 

Are there actually Ten Commandments?

Although the Bible uses the Hebrew phrase aseret had'varim (עשרת הדברים) [translated as “ten words” (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; and Deuteronomy 10:4)], this phrase does not appear in the passages usually presented as being "the Ten Commandments." The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 contain more than ten imperative statements, totalling fourteen or fifteen in all. 

IMPERATIVES IN THE COMMANDMENTS
1
“You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me”
Exodus 20:3
Deuteronomy 5:7
2
“You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Idol”
Exodus 20:4
Deuteronomy 5:8
3
“You Shall Not Bow Down to Them”
Exodus 20:5
Deuteronomy 5:9
4
“You Shall Not Make Wrongful Use of the Name of the Lord”
Exodus 20:7
Deuteronomy 5:11
5
“Remember (Observe) the Sabbath Day”
Exodus 20:8a
Deuteronomy 5:12a
6
“Keep It Holy”
Exodus 20:8b
Deuteronomy 5:12b
7
“You Shall Not Do Any Work”
Exodus 20:10
Deuteronomy 5:14
8
“Remember that You were a Slave in the Land of Egypt”
—
Deuteronomy 5:15
9
“Honor Your Father and Your Mother”
Exodus 20:12
Deuteronomy 5:16
10
“You Shall Not Murder”
Exodus 20:13
Deuteronomy 5:17
11
“You Shall Not Commit Adultery”
Exodus 20:14
Deuteronomy 5:18
12
“You Shall Not Steal”
Exodus 20:15
Deuteronomy 5:19
13
“You Shall Not Bear False Witness”
Exodus 20:16
Deuteronomy 5:20
14
“You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s House”
Exodus 20:17a
Deuteronomy 5:21b
15
“You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s Wife”
Exodus 20:17b
Deuteronomy 5:21a


Now because the Ten Commandments contain more than ten imperitive statements, and because the imperative statements are not specifically enumerated; various religions number the commandments differently.

DIVISION OF THE COMMANDMENTS
 
COMMANDMENT
 
JEWISH
ANGLICAN, REFORMED, & OTHER
CHRISTIANS
 
ORTHODOX
ROMAN CATHOLIC & LUTHERAN
“I am the Lord Your God”
1
Preface
 
1
 
1
“You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me”
 
2
1
“You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Idol”
2
2
“You Shall Not Make Wrongful Use of the Name of the Lord”
3
3
3
2
“Remember (Observe) the Sabbath Day, and Keep It Holy”
4
4
4
3
“Honor Your Father and Your Mother”
5
5
5
4
“You Shall Not Murder”
6
6
6
5
“You Shall Not Commit Adultery”
7
7
7
6
“You Shall Not Steal”
8
8
8
7
“You Shall Not Bear False Witness”
9
9
9
8
“You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s House”
 
10
 
10
 
10
9
“You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s Wife”
10

 

What are the consequences for not obeying to the Ten Commandments?

The commandments are apodictic in form—straight-forward declarations expressing core concerns of the community. No juridical consequences for disobedience are specified. As such, they are not generally motivated by negative reinforcement. Thus, their being obligatory is not conditional on their being enforceable. 

The appeal to follow the Ten Commandments is to a deeper motivation for obedience—these are commandments of “the Lord your God.” These commandments assume an internal motivation for obedience rather than corporate pressure or external coercion.

 

So, why should we keep the Ten Commandments?

Presbyterians believe that the reason for keeping the commandments is two-fold and is based in the opening declaration, “I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

First, this declaration establishes God’s law as a personal relationship.  Obedience is a matter of relationship to God, not a matter of adherence to law for its own sake. This declaration is, in effect, a promise that God will be our God. Obedience is relationally conceived.

Second, God identifies Himself in relation to a particular history. The activity of God in redeeming Israel from bondage means that the law and the service to God are not understood as another form of bondage. The law is a gift of a redeeming God. This particular redemptive act on God’s part is seen as under-girding and informing the law, not the other way around. Those who are given the law are already God’s people. Hence, the law is not understood as a means of redemption. Rather, the law is an instruction which shapes the lives of those who are already redeemed by God’s redemptive act.

 


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