The
Ten
Commandments
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- Introduction
- Types of law
- Casuistic
- Apodictic
- Other types exist too because not all law can be placed in the two
above categories - yet the two above categories are the basic ones discussed
- Title
- The title "The Ten Commandments" originates from Exod. 34:8
in which Moses wrote the "ten words" on the tablets - the ten words became known
as the Ten Commandments
- The term Decalogue is also
used
- History of the Ten Commandments
- Biblical tradition states that the Ten Commandments were given to
Moses by God on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 19:1-20:26) - the words were written by God on stone
tablets
- Contemporary scholarship has reached other conclusions and posited a
different history
- Individual commandments may have circulated separately before they
were joined together into one collection
- Some commandments may date to the time of the patriarchs - examples
would be the commandment to honor father and mother and the commandment not to commit
adultery - both of these commandments were necessary to promote family solidarity
- Commandments 1 (no other gods before God), 2 (no images), and 4
(remember Sabbath day) in particular would seem to date to the time of Moses when the
distinctiveness of Israel's faith were being formed
- Some suggest that originally all of the commandments were cast in a
negative form - if this was the case, it is now impossible to tell
- The priestly-Levitical circles would probably have been responsible
for the formulation of the Ten Commandments
- The Ten Commandments were known at least before 621 B.C.E. when Josiah initiated his reform and discovered
an early form of the Book of Deuteronomy in the Temple - while prophets like Hosea (Hos. 4:2) and Jeremiah (Jer.
7:8-9) cite the commandments, they do not list them in the order they appear in Exod. 20
and Deut. 5 - either they are recalling them from memory or the order was not yet
established even in Josiah's and Jeremiah's time
- The form of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17 is older than the
form in Deuteronomy 5:6-21
- Structure of the Ten Commandments
- Commandments 1-4 deal with relationship to God, commandments 5-10
deal with relationship to other people - in reality, the two overlap
- All but two of the commandments are in negative form - this allows a
great deal of flexibility in interpreting how to live positively
- The whole is placed in a setting of terror and powerful natural
phenomena (Exod. 19:1-25, 20:18-26) - God is serious about His law and obedience to it
- Two forms of the Ten Commandments
- Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21
- The only substantive difference between the two is the reason for the
Sabbath
- According to Exod. 20:11, people should rest on the Sabbath because
God rested on the seventh day of creation and thus hallowed the seventh day
- According to Deut. 5:15, people should rest on the Sabbath because
God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt - being delivered from slavery implies that
rest is possible - Israel is also commanded to allow their slaves to rest on the Sabbath
- Interpretations of the Commandments
- "No other gods before me" (Exod. 20:3, Deut. 5:7)
- Israel was to have no other gods in the cult
- While the Israelites might believe that other gods existed (cf. Josh.
24:14-15), they were not to worship them
- Tied in with the idea of God as a "jealous" God (Exod.
20:5, Deut. 5:9) - He would not tolerate His acts being attributed to another or praise
which should be given to Him being given to another
- The commandment aimed at establishing a relationship between Israel
and God that would eliminate any belief in or worship of any other deity
- God alone was to be worshiped in the cult and obeyed in daily life
- "No images" (Exod. 20:4-6, Deut. 5:8-10)
- Originally banned any image made of wood or stone but came to include
metal images as well - basically "any likeness" of God was banned
- Theology of images
- An invisible deity would be present in an idol or would empower the idol with the power of his/her
presence
- Relying on the connection (a "spiritual" connection)
between the deity and the idol, worshipers thought they gained some power from and over
the deity
- Israel was to realize that they could not control God
- Points to consider
- Freedom and otherness of God's revelation of Himself - we do not
intrude on Him and order Him about
- Emphasizes the importance of the word as a medium of revelation
- Nothing in the universe is intended to have ultimate importance
except God
- Nothing finite can provide a complete image of the infinite God -
although humans are a kind of image of God because they are made in His image, no human
expresses the completeness of God nor can control Him
- Invites careful attention to the nature and significance of symbolism
in our worship
- "Don't use God's name in vain" (Exod. 20:7, Deut. 5:11)
- Significance of a name in the ancient world
- Name expressed the nature or function of a person or thing
- To some degree the name of a person or thing expressed its very
essence
- To misuse the name was to misuse the person or thing
- Refers to:
- All magic uses of God's name - God cannot be manipulated through
using His name
- Perjury and false swearing in God's name
- Profaning God's name through words and deeds on both national and
individual levels
- Using God's name to curse another
- As time passed, the name of God was no longer spoken in order to
prevent people from misusing God's name
- Points to consider
- Prohibits use of magic in worship and prayer
- Correlation of worship and life - use of God's name in the cult must
not be out of harmony with the behavior patterns of the worshipers' lives
- No virtue in not taking up the name
- "Keep the Sabbath holy" (Exod. 20:8-11, Deut. 5:12-15)
- Observing Sabbath as a seventh day of rest was unique to Israel
- Rome used 8 days in a week
- Colonies of Assyria used 5 or 6 days
- Were 6-7 day patterns in Ancient Near East that were probably linked
to seven as a perfect number
- Work was to be done on 6 days, but not on the 7th -
ceasing work was essential
- Why stop work?
- God is holding the world up, so we can rest and praise Him for His
goodness and control (Exod. 20:11)
- Israel should remember its slavery in Egypt under the control of
Pharaoh - God was now in control of their lives and had lightened their burden (Deut.
5:15)
- Points to consider
- Stopping work is basic, even in most urgent times - need time for
refreshment and rest, time to recover from our "workaholic" six days
- Calls people to a stewardship of time - we need to plan rest and
worship
- "God is the Lord of time, and that no business, however
pressing, must be allowed to keep man from regularly seeking his fellowship"
(Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, Vol. 1, page 133) - Sabbath is to be a
different day, set aside for remembering God and our covenant with Him
- Following our human agenda alone is to be enslaved
- Creation is a gift from God - humans are to appreciate it and God's
goodness
- A day of rejoicing in all its aspects
- A sign of our faith and priorities
- "Honor your parents" (Exod. 20:12, Deut. 5:16)
- "Honor" means not just to "obey" but "to
prize highly, to respect, to exalt, to glorify" - the same word was used referring to
worshiping God (Ps. 86:9)
- Addressed primarily to adults, especially middle-aged adults - it was
their responsibility to care for and support the elderly adults who could no longer care
for themselves
- In the post-exilic period this commandment was especially important
since society depended upon the older adults in passing along the faith and traditions of
the people
- Only commandment with a promise
- Promise - "that your days may be long in the land which the Lord
your God gives you"
- Promise is not of long life for each individual who honors his/her
parents but long life for the society in which the elder members are valued even though
they may not be able to contribute economically to the community
- Points to consider
- Parents who have invested great time in our lives are to be valued
and thanked for shaping us
- Society needs to value all people, even and especially those who can
no longer contribute the way economic contributions are typically measured - no one is a
throw-away member of society in infancy or old age
- "Don't kill"
- What killing was prohibited?
- Probably illegal and intentional killing of a person - perhaps also
killing of a person through oppression (Job 24:14, Ps. 94:6) or fanatic application of the
law (Deut. 22:26) or even an unintentional murder
- Did not prohibit killing in war or in capital punishment
- The fact that there is no object to the commandment also has invited
interpretation
- Does the commandment refer to humans? Animals? Plant life?
- Probably referred only to humans - something must die (animal or
plant) for humans to eat
- Points to consider
- Individuals and families are not to take the law into their own hands
and dispense their brand of justice
- Open invitation to consider the meaning and value of life
- Life and death belong to God - to kill is to infringe upon God's
divine right
- Encourages us to seek good and life for others and not evil and death
- how can we improve the quality of life for someone rather than destroy it?
- "Don't commit adultery" (Exod. 20:14, Deut. 5:18)
- Meaning of adultery
- Adultery in ancient Israel was defined as a man having sexual
relations with the wife or betrothed of another man (Lev. 20:10, Deut. 22:22) - the
commandment was directed at men and the punishment was death
- If a man had sexual relations with a woman who was a free woman but
not married or betrothed, the crime was viewed as a property crime - the man either had to
pay a sum equal to what the father would lose since his daughter would not bring as big a
dowry because she was no longer a virgin or marry the woman paying the full dowry price
(Exod. 22:16-17, Lev. 19:20-21, Deut. 22:28-29)
- Sexual relations with slaves of their own household was not forbidden
(cf. Gen. 16:2)
- Points to consider
- Proper sexual behavior was taken with great seriousness in Israel
- Despite the "free sex" of some of the biblical accounts,
there are other texts which speak of the seriousness of sexual sin (e.g., Gen. 39:9, 2
Sam. 13:13-14)
- The wisdom teachers in particular warned against improper sexual
behavior (Prov. 5:1-23, 6:20-35, 7:1-27)
- Premarital sex was also viewed with severity (Deut. 22:13-21)
- Adultery was viewed so seriously because it disrupted family life and
created a lack of trust and respect between men and women
- Argues for sexual discipline
- Discipline of waiting and enduring carries over into other aspects of
life and creates stronger character
- Respect for the sexuality and person of others prevents people from
becoming mere objects of pleasure - the rights and value of each person remain intact
- "Don't steal" (Exod. 20:15, Deut. 5:19)
- The object of the theft can be a person or thing - secrecy or stealth
is also involved
- Some have argued the original meaning of the commandment was a
prohibition against kidnaping and thus it did
not overlap with the 10th commandment - as it stands, however, it may pave the
way for the increased emphasis provided by the 10th commandment
- "Don't lie" (Exod. 20:16, Deut. 5:20)
- The problem of people who lie in legal situations
- Giving false testimony was forbidden and punished severely (Deut.
19:18-19)
- A person could only be convicted on the testimony of two witnesses
(Num. 35:30, Deut. 19:15) - this was an effort to guard against false testimony - if both
decided to lie, an innocent person could be condemned and his/her life taken (cf. 1 Kings
21:1-29, Ps. 27:12)
- Does not forbid lying in general but it does prohibit lying which
directly affects one's neighbor - such a breach of covenant between people indicated a
breach also of the covenant with God
- Does argue in general for telling the truth in all situations
- "Don't covet" (Exod. 20:17, Deut. 5:21)
- Prohibits desiring something belonging to another - the taking of the
object by force, stealth, or subtlety is also included
- The list of things not to covet is not intended to be a complete list
but a representative list - we are not to search for loopholes to prove that our wanting
and seeking is not really coveting
- In general, states we should be satisfied with what we have been
given by God and not constantly be desiring and demanding something beyond
- Importance of the Ten Commandments
- The prophets referred to the Ten Commandments (e.g., Hos. 4:2, Jer.
7:8-9) and thus believed it to be a guide to correct conduct and relationship with God
- Remains a good summary of God's will and is effective in teaching and
in personal spiritual growth
Artwork by Rembrandt from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art
(c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97
