The 10 Commandments
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Submitted by:God Chaser
In Biblical Hebrew language, the commandments are termed ???? ?????? (translit. Aseret ha-Dvar?m) and in Rabbinical Hebrew ???? ?????? (translit. Aseret ha-Dibrot), both translatable as "the ten statements."
The name "Decalogue" is derived from the Greek name ????????? or "dekalogos" ("ten statements") found in the Septuagint (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 10:4), which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name.
Moses with the Ten Commandments by Rembrandt (1659)
Moses with the Ten Commandments by Rembrandt (1659)
According to Biblical text, the commandments represent the utterances of God on Mount Sinai. God inscribed them into "tables of stone"[2], also referred to as "tables of testimony"[3] or "tables of the covenant"[4], which he gave to Moses. Moses then gave them to the people of Israel in the third month after their Exodus from Egypt. Israel's receipt of the commandments occurred on the third day of preparations at the foot of the mount.[5]
The arrangement of the commandments on the two tablets is interpreted in different ways. Rabbi Hanina ben Gamaliel says that each tablet contained five commandments, "but the Sages say ten on one tablet and ten on the other".[6] Because the commandments establish a covenant, it is likely that they were duplicated on both tablets. This can be compared to diplomatic treaties of Ancient Egypt, in which a copy was made for each party.[7]
The tablets "were written on both their sides,"[8] with the carving going through the full thickness of the tablets. The stones in the center part of letters were not connected to the rest of the tablet, but they did not fall out. The writing was also legible from both sides; it was not a mirror image on the back. These two miracles are explained in the Talmud.[9]
After receiving the commandments and returning to Mount Sinai, Moses saw that the Israelites had "defiled themselves", and that his brother, Aaron, had made a Golden Calf and an altar in front of it. Moses, in terrible anger, broke the tablets.[10] God later had Moses carve two other tablets, to replace the ones he smashed.[11] God himself appears as the writer.[12] This second set, brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses,[13] was placed in the Ark of the Covenant,[14] hence designated as the "Ark of the Testimony."[15]
The Bible also makes other references to the commandments. References to them and the consequences for not following them are found throughout the book of Deuteronomy. Jesus refers to the commandments in several verses,[16] and condenses them into two general commands:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like unto it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.[17]
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