Women of the Word

Exodus 20:1 – 17



The Ten Commandments



When Moses, with Aaron, descends from Mt. Sinai (19:17-25), he speaks to the Israelites and tells them that God has given him a set of laws that they are to follow. Although these have come to be known as the Ten Commandments, they are not called by that term in the Bible; rather they are referred to as the ten words, since in oral tradition short words could be used as a memory device using the fingers of both hands. The Commandments are apodictic laws—short rules with no qualifications (e.g., no consequences) attached to them. (In modern terms, apodictic laws are legislated, while casuistic, or case, laws apply the former and mete out punishment.) The Commandments do not need the threat of consequences behind them; their power comes directly from God, and they are the basic rules that make the Israelites part of the covenant community that sets them apart from others.

“The foundation and source of the moral law is God’s character. . . . And it is that that makes the moral law so awful in its unchangeable majesty. It is law because God is. It cannot be changed without changing the character of Jehovah himself. Right is what it is, because God is what he is. . . . The fact that God has placed the law of his own character on man is proof that man is capable of the divine.” [Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p. 257] Or, as was mentioned in our overview discussion, the Ten Commandments are the essence of a fundamental rightness or good that is deeply engrained in the human psyche.

The first four Commandments address the Hebrews’ dealings with God. The next six deal with their relationships with one another.

1. You shall have no other gods before me. In the introduction to this chapter, the Lord has already pointed out that “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” This is a reminder that he has bested all of the Egyptian gods in the various trials and plagues that befell Pharaoh and his people before the Hebrews managed to escape. Thus, while recognizing that other gods exist, he has already proved his supreme power and that he is Lord of all. (At this point in their history, the Israelites still practiced a form of henotheism, worshipping a major God while recognizing some lesser gods. It was not until the end of their Babylonian captivity in 538 BCE that they became truly monotheistic, rejecting any other deity claim.) The admonition here is that the Israelites are to put Yahweh first.

2. You shall not make for yourselves a graven image. Images can be manipulated and, thus, can be imbued with power. It is tempting to put God into an image that we can recognize so that we can be comfortable with the concept (icons, paintings, statues, etc.). There is a difference in interpretation of this Commandment between Protestants, Jews, and Roman Catholics.

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. God’s name is meant to be special. Modern society has become inured to the constant misuse of God’s name in inappropriate language. As a recent Hebrew scholar has warned: “Do not take Yahweh’s name for ‘emptiness’.”

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Here the Priestly writer reminds his listeners that in the Creation story God formed the world and all its creatures in six days and then rested on the seventh which He “blessed and made holy” (Gen. 2:3). Closer to their own experience, there was no manna or quail provided for the wandering Israelites in the desert on the seventh day (Ex. 16:22-26). Setting aside a day to honor the Lord was a fairly novel concept at that time; other civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, etc.) did not have a regularly specified day of the week for religious observance.

5. Honor your father and your mother. Ancient nomadic societies, usually living on the edge of starvation, had no use for unproductive members of society. The family was a working survival unit, and any elderly members, who had outlived their usefulness, were left behind to die in the wilderness. This Commandment is a reminder that wisdom comes with age and is to be respected; it opens a new way on how the community is to treat each member, regardless of age or ability.

6. You shall not commit murder. The Jewish use of the word “murder” has been translated as “kill” in Catholic and Protestant versions of this Commandment. This leads to some confusion, since the term “murder” implies a cold-blooded act, planned out with malice aforethought. Thus acts of war, punishment, defense, and others, actually fall outside the scope of this Commandment, although they are addressed elsewhere in the expansion of the Mosaic laws in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

7. You shall not commit adultery. At the time this was written, this Commandment was primarily aimed at women. It only would involve a man if he consorted with another man’s married wife. The purpose of this law was both the sacredness of the family unit and the issue of proper inheritance. A child should be the legitimate issue of the father, especially in the case of a male heir. Adultery was considered only a crime against a husband, since a woman was his property.

8. You shall not steal. The concept usually associated with this Commandment is the theft of personal objects; however, kidnapping falls under this admonition. Slavery was widespread throughout the ancient world, and the Hebrews practiced it as well.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. This started as a framework for testimony in court [see Ex. 18: 19-26, where Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, advises him on setting up a court system within the Israelite camp]. A community cannot survive where perjury is allowed. Later, as the laws were expanded, the concepts of malicious gossip, libel, and character assassination were added.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house . . . or anything that belongs to him. The modern interpretation of the word “covet” is “desire”; however, the Hebrew word goes beyond that to incorporate the concept of planning or attempting to acquire something that does not belong to you. Unlike the other Commandments, this one moves beyond the world of overt actions into the realm of the heart, the seat of destructive desire. “It is easier to obey ‘duties of the limbs,’ those obligations and prohibitions that involve outward behavior, and which thus involve social approbation and disapprobation, than it is to fulfill the ‘duties of the heart,’ since ‘only’ God knows if we have fulfilled the latter, not our neighbors, or, often, not even ourselves.” [Rabbi Bahya ibn Paquda, Duties of the Heart, 11th Cent. work paraphrased]



The Decalogue (or the Ten Commandments, as they are more commonly known) are a unique revelation to the people of Israel because they are the only commands directly addressed to them by God Himself. Every other communication that they have with the Lord comes through Moses. [Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p. 256]



Submitted by Karilyn Jaap