Ten Commandments

Although both the Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls have the passages of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 divided into ten specific commandments formatted with space between them corresponding to the Lutheran counting in the chart below,[24][25] many Modern English Bible translations give the appearance of more than ten imperative statements in each passage.

Different religious traditions categorize the seventeen verses of Exodus 20:1–17 and their parallels in Deuteronomy 5:4–21 into ten commandments in different ways as shown in the table. Some suggest that the number ten is a choice to aid memorization rather than a matter of theology.[26][27]

There are two major approaches to categorizing the commandments. One approach distinguishes the prohibition against other gods (verse 3) from the prohibition against images (verses 4–6):

• LXX: Septuagint (3rd century BC), generally followed by Eastern Orthodox Christians.
• P: Philo (1st century), has an extensive homily explaining the order, with the prohibition on adultery "the greatest of the commands dealing with persons", followed by the prohibitions against stealing and then killing.[52]
• R: Reformed Christians follow Calvin's Institutes (1536) follows the Septuagint; this system is also in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.[53]

Another approach combines verses 3–6, the prohibition against images and the prohibition against other gods, into a single command while still maintaining ten commandments. Samaritan and Jewish traditions include another commandment, whereas Christian traditions will divide coveting the neighbor's wife and house.

• S: Samaritan Pentateuch (c. 120 BCE), contains additional instruction to Moses about making a sacrifice to Yahweh, which Samaritans regard as the 10th commandment.
• T: Jewish Talmud (c. 200 CE), makes the "prologue" the first "saying" or "matter."
• A: Augustine (4th century), follows the Talmud in combining verses 3–6, but omits the prologue as a commandment and divides the prohibition on coveting into two commandments, following the word order of Deuteronomy 5:21 rather than Exodus 20:17.
• C: Roman Catholicism largely follows Augustine, which was reiterated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) changing "the sabbath" into "the lord's day" and dividing Exodus 20:17, prohibiting covetousness, into two commandments.
• L: Lutherans follow Luther's Large Catechism (1529), which follows Augustine and Roman Catholic tradition but subordinates the prohibition of images to the sovereignty of God in the First Commandment[54] and uses the word order of Exodus 20:17 rather than Deuteronomy 5:21 for the ninth and tenth commandments.

The Ten Commandments form the basis of Jewish law,[60] stating God's universal and timeless standard of right and wrong – unlike the rest of the 613 commandments in the Torah, which include, for example, various duties and ceremonies such as the kashrut dietary laws, and the rituals to be performed by priests in the Holy Temple.[61] Jewish tradition considers the Ten Commandments the theological basis for the rest of the commandments. Philo, in his four-book work The Special Laws, treated the Ten Commandments as headings under which he discussed other related commandments.[62] Similarly, in The Decalogue he stated that "under [the "commandment… against adulterers"] many other commands are conveyed by implication, such as that against seducers, that against practisers of unnatural crimes, that against all who live in debauchery, that against all men who indulge in illicit and incontinent connections."[63] Others, such as Rabbi Saadia Gaon, have also made groupings of the commandments according to their links with the Ten Commandments.[64]

According to Conservative Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, Ten Commandments are virtually entwined, in that the breaking of one leads to the breaking of another. Echoing an earlier rabbinic comment found in the commentary of Rashi to the Songs of Songs (4:5) Ginzberg explained—there is also a great bond of union between the first five commandments and the last five. The first commandment: "I am the Lord, thy God," corresponds to the sixth: "Thou shalt not kill," for the murderer slays the image of God. The second: "Thou shalt have no strange gods before me," corresponds to the seventh: "Thou shalt not commit adultery," for conjugal faithlessness is as grave a sin as idolatry, which is faithlessness to God. The third commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain," corresponds to the eighth: "Thou shalt not steal," for stealing results in a false oath in God's name. The fourth: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," corresponds to the ninth: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor," for he who bears false witness against his neighbor commits as grave a sin as if he had borne false witness against God, saying that He had not created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day (the holy Sabbath). The fifth commandment: "Honor thy father and thy mother," corresponds to the tenth: "Covet not thy neighbor's wife," for one who indulges this lust produces children who will not honor their true father, but will consider a stranger their father.[65]

The traditional Rabbinical Jewish belief is that the observance of these commandments and the other mitzvot are required solely of the Jewish people and that the laws incumbent on humanity in general are outlined in the seven Noahide laws, several of which overlap with the Ten Commandments. In the era of the Sanhedrin transgressing any one of six of the Ten Commandments theoretically carried the death penalty, the exceptions being the First Commandment, honouring your father and mother, saying God's name in vain, and coveting, though this was rarely enforced due to a large number of stringent evidentiary requirements imposed by the oral law.[66]

The arrangement of the commandments on the two tablets is interpreted in different ways in the classical Jewish tradition. Rabbi Hanina ben Gamaliel says that each tablet contained five commandments, "but the Sages say ten on one tablet and ten on the other", that is, that the tablets were duplicates.[67] This can be compared to diplomatic treaties of the ancient Near East, in which a copy was made for each party.[68]

According to the Talmud, the compendium of traditional Rabbinic Jewish law, tradition, and interpretation, one interpretation of the biblical verse "the tablets were written on both their sides",[69] is that the carving went through the full thickness of the tablets, yet was miraculously legible from both sides.[70]

The Ten Commandments on a glass plate

The Mishna records that during the period of the Second Temple, the Ten Commandments were recited daily,[71] before the reading of the Shema Yisrael (as preserved, for example, in the Nash Papyrus, a Hebrew manuscript fragment from 150 to 100 BC found in Egypt, containing a version of the ten commandments and the beginning of the Shema); but that this practice was abolished in the synagogues so as not to give ammunition to heretics who claimed that they were the only important part of Jewish law,[72][73] or to dispel a claim by early Christians that only the Ten Commandments were handed down at Mount Sinai rather than the whole Torah.[71]

In later centuries rabbis continued to omit the Ten Commandments from daily liturgy in order to prevent confusion among Jews that they are only bound by the Ten Commandments, and not also by many other biblical and Talmudic laws, such as the requirement to observe holy days other than the sabbath.[71]

Today, the Ten Commandments are heard in the synagogue three times a year: as they come up during the readings of Exodus and Deuteronomy, and during the festival of Shavuot.[71] The Exodus version is read in parashat Yitro around late January–February, and on the festival of Shavuot, and the Deuteronomy version in parashat Va'etchanan in August–September. In some traditions, worshipers rise for the reading of the Ten Commandments to highlight their special significance[71] though many rabbis, including Maimonides, have opposed this custom since one may come to think that the Ten Commandments are more important than the rest of the Mitzvot.[74]

In printed Chumashim, as well as in those in manuscript form, the Ten Commandments carry two sets of cantillation marks. The ta'am 'elyon (upper accentuation), which makes each Commandment into a separate verse, is used for public Torah reading, while the ta'am tachton (lower accentuation), which divides the text into verses of more even length, is used for private reading or study. The verse numbering in Jewish Bibles follows the ta'am tachton. In Jewish Bibles the references to the Ten Commandments are therefore Exodus 20:2–14 and Deuteronomy 5:6–18.

The Samaritan Pentateuch varies in the Ten Commandments passages, both in that the Samaritan Deuteronomical version of the passage is much closer to that in Exodus, and in that Samaritans count as nine commandments what others count as ten. The Samaritan tenth commandment is on the sanctity of Mount Gerizim.

The text of the Samaritan tenth commandment follows:[75]

And it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land of the Canaanites whither thou goest to take possession of it, thou shalt erect unto thee large stones, and thou shalt cover them with lime, and thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this Law, and it shall come to pass when ye cross the Jordan, ye shall erect these stones which I command thee upon Mount Gerizim, and thou shalt build there an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones, and thou shalt not lift upon them iron, of perfect stones shalt thou build thine altar, and thou shalt bring upon it burnt offerings to the Lord thy God, and thou shalt sacrifice peace offerings, and thou shalt eat there and rejoice before the Lord thy God. That mountain is on the other side of the Jordan at the end of the road towards the going down of the sun in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah facing Gilgal close by Elon Moreh facing Shechem.

Most traditions of Christianity hold that the Ten Commandments have divine authority and continue to be valid, though they have different interpretations and uses of them.[76] The Apostolic Constitutions, which implore believers to "always remember the ten commands of God," reveal the importance of the Decalogue in the early Church.[77] Through most of Christian history the decalogue was considered a summary of God's law and standard of behaviour, central to Christian life, piety, and worship.[78]

Distinctions in the order and importance of said order continues to be a theological debate,[79] with texts within the New Testament Romans 13:9 confirming the more traditional ordering, which follows the Septuagint of adultery, murder and theft; as opposed to the currently held order of the Masoretic of murder, adultery, theft.

Moses and Aaron with the Ten Commandments (painting circa 1675 by Aron de Chavez)

During his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explicitly referenced the prohibitions against murder and adultery. In Matthew 19:16–19 Jesus repeated five of the Ten Commandments, followed by that commandment called "the second" (Matthew 22:34–40) after the first and great commandment.

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

— Matthew 19:16–19

In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul the Apostle also mentioned five of the Ten Commandments and associated them with the neighbourly love commandment.

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

— Romans 13:8–10 KJV

In Catholicism, Jesus freed Christians from the rest of Jewish religious law, but not from their obligation to keep the Ten Commandments.[80] It has been said that they are to the moral order what the creation story is to the natural order.[80]

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church—the official exposition of the Catholic Church's Christian beliefs—the Commandments are considered essential for spiritual good health and growth,[81] and serve as the basis for social justice.[82] Church teaching of the Commandments is largely based on the Old and New Testaments and the writings of the early Church Fathers.[83] In the New Testament, Jesus acknowledged their validity and instructed his disciples to go further, demanding a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees.[84] Summarized by Jesus into two "great commandments" that teach the love of God and love of neighbour,[85] they instruct individuals on their relationships with both.

The great commandments contain the Law of the Gospel, summed up in the Golden Rule. The Law of the Gospel is expressed particularly in the Sermon on the Mount.[86] The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that, "the Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law. The Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, far from abolishing or devaluing the moral prescriptions of the Old Law, releases their hidden potential and has new demands arise from them: it reveals their entire devine and human truth. It does not add new external precepts, but proceeds to reform the heart, the root of human acts, where man chooses between the pure and the impure, where faith, hope, and charity are formed and with them the other virtues." The New Law "fulfills, refines, surpasses, and leads the Old Law to its perfection."[87]

A Christian school in India displays the Ten Commandments.

The Eastern Orthodox Church holds its moral truths to be chiefly contained in the Ten Commandments.[88] A confession begins with the Confessor reciting the Ten Commandments and asking the penitent which of them he has broken.[89]

After rejecting the moral theology of Roman Catholicism, giving more importance to biblical law and the gospel, early Protestant theologians continued to take the Ten Commandments as the starting point of Christian moral life.[90] Different versions of Christianity have varied in how they have translated the bare principles into the specifics that make up a full Christian ethic.[90]

Moses receives the Ten Commandments in this 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, a Lutheran.

The Lutheran division of the commandments follows the one established by St. Augustine, following the then current synagogue scribal division. The first three commandments govern the relationship between God and humans, the fourth through eighth govern public relationships between people, and the last two govern private thoughts. See Luther's Small Catechism[91] and Large Catechism.[54]

The Articles of the Church of England, Revised and altered by the Assembly of Divines, at Westminster, in the year 1643 state that "no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral. By the moral law, we understand all the Ten Commandments taken in their full extent."[92] The Westminster Confession, held by Presbyterian Churches, holds that the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments "does forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof".[93]

The moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, according to the founder of the Methodist movement John Wesley, was instituted from the beginning of the world and is written on the hearts of all people.[94] As with the Reformed view,[95] Wesley held that the moral law, which is contained in the Ten Commandments, stands today:[96]

Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind in all ages, as not depending either on time or place, nor on any other circumstances liable to change; but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other" (Wesley's Sermons, Vol. I, Sermon 25).[96]

In keeping with Wesleyan covenant theology, "while the ceremonial law was abolished in Christ and the whole Mosaic dispensation itself was concluded upon the appearance of Christ, the moral law remains a vital component of the covenant of grace, having Christ as its perfecting end."[94] As such, in Methodism, an "important aspect of the pursuit of sanctification is the careful following" of the Ten Commandments.[95]

The Ten Commandments are a summary of the requirements of a works covenant (called the "Old Covenant"), given on Mount Sinai to the nascent nation of Israel.[97] The Old Covenant is fulfilled by Christ at the cross. Unbelievers are still under the Law. The law reveals man's sin and need for the salvation that is Jeshua. Repentance from sin and faith in Christ for salvation is the point of the entire Bible.[98] They do reflect the eternal character of God, and serve as a paragon of morality.[99]

According to the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jesus completed rather than rejected the Mosaic law.[100] The Ten Commandments are considered eternal gospel principles necessary for exaltation.[101] They appear in the Book of Mosiah 12:34–36,[102] 13:15–16,[103] 13:21–24[104] and Doctrine and Covenants.[101] According to the Book of Mosiah, a prophet named Abinadi taught the Ten Commandments in the court of King Noah and was martyred for his righteousness.[105] Abinadi knew the Ten Commandments from the brass plates.[106]

In an October 2011 address, the Church president and prophet Thomas S. Monson taught "The Ten Commandments are just that—commandments. They are not suggestions."[107] In that same talk he used small quotations listing the numbering and selection of the commandments. This and other sources[108] don't include the prologue, making it most consistent with the Septuagint numbering.

A splinter group of the Church called the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)" have a belief similar to the Samaritans where they have the entire Ten Commandments in their scripture where others only have nine. The Strangite fourth Commandment is "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."[109] The Strangite's founder and namesake James Strang wrote in "Note on the Decalogue" as part of the Book of the Law of the Lord (a Strangite holy book) that no other version of the Decalogue contains more than nine commandments and speculated that his fourth Commandment was omitted from other works perhaps as early as Josephus' time (circa 37-100 AD).[110]

The receiving of the Ten Commandments by Prophet Musa (Moses) is dealt with in much detail in Islamic tradition[111] with the meeting of Moses with God on Mount Sinai described in Surah A'raf (7:142-145). The Revealing of the Tablets on which were the Commandments of God is described in the following verse:

And We wrote for him (Moses) on the Tablets the lesson to be drawn from all things and the explanation of all things (and said): Hold unto these with firmness, and enjoin your people to take the better therein. I shall show you the home of Al-Fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah).[112]

The Tablets are further alluded to in verses 7:150, when Moses threw the Tablets down in anger at seeing the Israelites' worshipping of the golden calf, and in 7:154 when he picked up the Tablets having recovered from his anger:

And when the anger of Musa (Moses) was appeased, he took up the Tablets, and in their inscription was guidance and mercy for those who fear their Lord.[113]

Quranic reference to the ten commandments can be found in chapter 2 verses 83 and 84 "And [recall] when We took the covenant from the Children of Israel, [enjoining upon them], "Do not worship except Allah (1); and to parents do good (2) and to relatives (3), orphans (4), and the needy (5). And speak to people good words (6) and establish prayer (7) and give Zakat (8)." Then you turned away, except a few of you, and you were refusing." "And [recall] when We took your covenant, [saying], "Do not shed each other's blood (9) or evict one another from your homes (10)." Then you acknowledged [this] while you were witnessing"

Three verses of Surah An'am (6:151–153) are widely taken to be a reinstatement (or revised version) of the Ten Commandments[114][115][116] either as revealed to Moses originally or as they are to be taken by Muslims now:[117]

151. Say: "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: ¹Join not anything in worship with Him; ²And be good (and dutiful) to your parents; ³And kill not your children because of poverty – We provide sustenance for you and for them; ⁴And come not near to Al-Fawahish (shameful sins, illegal sexual intercourse, adultery etc.) whether committed openly or secretly, ⁵And kill not anyone whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause (according to the Law). This He has commanded you that you may understand.

152. "⁶And come not near to the orphan's property, except to improve it, until he (or she) attains the age of full strength; ⁷And give full measure and full weight with justice. We burden not any person, but that which he can bear. ⁸And whenever you give your word (i.e. judge between men or give evidence, etc.), say the truth even if a near relative is concerned, ⁹And fulfill the Covenant of Allah. This He commands you, that you may remember.

153. "¹⁰And verily, this (the Commandments mentioned in the above Verses) is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path. This He has ordained for you that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious)."[118]

Evidence for these verses having some relation to Moses and the Ten Commandments is from the verse which immediately follows them:

Then, We gave Musa (Moses) the Book, to complete (Our Favour) upon those who would do right, and explaining all things in detail and a guidance and a mercy that they might believe in the meeting with their Lord.[119]

According to a narration in Mustadrak Hakim, Ibn Abbas, a prominent narrator of Israiliyat traditions said, "In Surah Al-An`am, there are clear Ayat, and they are the Mother of the Book (the Qur'an)." He then recited the above verses.[120]

Also in Mustadrak Hakim is the narration of Ubada ibn as-Samit:

The Messenger of Allah said, "Who among you will give me his pledge to do three things?"

He then recited the (above) Ayah (6:151–153).

He then said, "Whoever fulfills (this pledge), then his reward will be with Allah, but whoever fell into shortcomings and Allah punishes him for it in this life, then that will be his recompense. Whoever Allah delays (his reckoning) until the Hereafter, then his matter is with Allah. If He wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will forgive him."[120]

Ibn Kathir mentions a narration of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud in his Tafsir:

"Whoever wishes to read the will and testament of the Messenger of Allah on which he placed his seal, let him read these Ayat (6:151–153)."[121]

The Abrahamic religions observe the Sabbath in various ways. In Judaism it is observed on Saturday (reckoned from dusk to dusk). In Christianity, it is sometimes observed on Saturday, sometimes on Sunday, and sometimes not at all (non-Sabbatarianism). Observing the Sabbath on Sunday, the day of resurrection, gradually became the dominant Christian practice from the Jewish-Roman wars onward. The Church's general repudiation of Jewish practices during this period is apparent in the Council of Laodicea (4th century AD) where Canons 37–38 state: "It is not lawful to receive portions sent from the feasts of Jews or heretics, nor to feast together with them" and "It is not lawful to receive unleavened bread from the Jews, nor to be partakers of their impiety".[122] Canon 29 of the Laodicean council specifically refers to the sabbath: "Christians must not judaize by resting on the [Jewish] Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ."[122]

The Sixth Commandment, as translated by the Book of Common Prayer (1549).
The image is from the altar screen of the Temple Church near the Law Courts in London.

Multiple translations exist of the fifth/sixth commandment; the Hebrew words לא תרצח‎ (lo tirtzach) are variously translated as "thou shalt not kill" or "thou shalt not murder".[123]

The imperative is against unlawful killing resulting in bloodguilt.[124] The Hebrew Bible contains numerous prohibitions against unlawful killing, but does not prohibit killing in the context of warfare (1Kings 2:5–6), capital punishment (Leviticus 20:9–16) or a home invasion during the night (Exodus 22:2–3), which are considered justified. The New Testament is in agreement that murder is a grave moral evil,[125] and references the Old Testament view of bloodguilt.[126]

German Old Testament scholar Albrecht Alt: Das Verbot des Diebstahls im Dekalog (1953), suggested that the commandment translated as "thou shalt not steal" was originally intended against stealing people—against abductions and slavery, in agreement with the Talmudic interpretation of the statement as "thou shalt not kidnap" (Sanhedrin 86a).

In Judaism there is a prohibition against making or worshipping an idol or a representation of God, but there is no restriction on art or simple depictions unrelated to God. Islam has a stronger prohibition, banning not just representations of God, but also in some cases of Muhammad, humans and, in some interpretations, any living creature.

In the non-canonical Gospel of Barnabas, it is claimed that Jesus stated that idolatry is the greatest sin as it divests a man fully of faith, and hence of God.[127] The words attributed to Jesus prohibit not only worshipping statues of wood or stone; but also statues of flesh. "...all which a man loves, for which he leaves everything else but that, is his god, thus the glutton and drunkard has for his idol his own flesh, the fornicator has for his idol the harlot and the greedy has for his idol silver and gold, and so the same for every other sinner."[128] Idolatory was thus the basic sin, which manifested in various acts or thoughts, which displace the primacy of God. However, the Gospel of Barnabas does not form part of the Christian bible. It is known only from 16th- and 17th-century manuscripts, and frequently reflects Islamic rather than Christian understandings,[129] so it cannot be taken as authoritative on Christian views.

In Christianity's earliest centuries, some Christians had informally adorned their homes and places of worship with images of Christ and the saints, which others thought inappropriate. No church council had ruled on whether such practices constituted idolatry. The controversy reached crisis level in the 8th century, during the period of iconoclasm: the smashing of icons, and again in the Middle Ages, becoming a critical point of contention in the Protestant Reformation.

In 726 Emperor Leo III ordered all images removed from all churches; in 730 a council forbade veneration of images, citing the Second Commandment; in 787 the Seventh Ecumenical Council reversed the preceding rulings, condemning iconoclasm and sanctioning the veneration of images; in 815 Leo V called yet another council, which reinstated iconoclasm; in 843 Empress Theodora again reinstated veneration of icons. This mostly settled the matter until the Reformation, when John Calvin declared that the ruling of the Seventh Ecumenical Council "emanated from Satan". Protestant iconoclasts at this time destroyed statues, pictures, stained glass, and artistic masterpieces.

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Theodora's restoration of the icons every year on the First Sunday of Great Lent. Eastern Orthodox tradition teaches that while images of God, the Father, remain prohibited, depictions of Jesus as the incarnation of God as a visible human are permissible. To emphasize the theological importance of the incarnation, the Orthodox Church encourages the use of icons in church and private devotions, but prefers a two-dimensional depiction[130] as a reminder of this theological aspect. Icons depict the spiritual dimension of their subject rather than attempting a naturalistic portrayal. In modern use (usually as a result of Roman Catholic influence), more naturalistic images and images of the Father, however, also appear occasionally in Orthodox churches, but statues, i.e. three-dimensional depictions, continue to be banned.[130]

This commandment forbade male Israelites from having sexual intercourse with the wife of another Israelite; the prohibition did not extend to their own slaves. Sexual intercourse between an Israelite man, married or not, and a woman who was neither married nor betrothed was not considered adultery.[131] This concept of adultery stems from a society that was not strictly monogamous, where the patriarchal economic aspect of Israelite marriage gave the husband an exclusive right to his wife, whereas the wife, as the husband's possession, did not have an exclusive right to her husband.[132][133]

Louis Ginzberg argued that the tenth commandment (Covet not thy neighbor's wife) is directed against a sin which may lead to a trespassing of all Ten Commandments.[134]

Critical scholarship is divided over its interpretation of the ten commandment texts.

Julius Wellhausen's documentary hypothesis suggests that Exodus 20–23 and 34 "might be regarded as the document which formed the starting point of the religious history of Israel."[135] Deuteronomy 5 then reflects King Josiah's attempt to link the document produced by his court to the older Mosaic tradition.

In a 2002 analysis of the history of this position, Bernard M. Levinson argued that this reconstruction assumes a Christian perspective, and dates back to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's polemic against Judaism, which asserted that religions evolve from the more ritualistic to the more ethical. Goethe thus argued that the Ten Commandments revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai would have emphasized rituals, and that the "ethical" Decalogue Christians recite in their own churches was composed at a later date, when Israelite prophets had begun to prophesy the coming of the messiah. Levinson points out that there is no evidence, internal to the Hebrew Bible or in external sources, to support this conjecture. He concludes that its vogue among later critical historians represents the persistence of the idea that the supersession of Judaism by Christianity is part of a longer history of progress from the ritualistic to the ethical.[136]

By the 1930s, historians who accepted the basic premises of multiple authorship had come to reject the idea of an orderly evolution of Israelite religion. Critics instead began to suppose that law and ritual could be of equal importance, while taking different form, at different times. This means that there is no longer any a priori reason to believe that Exodus 20:2–17 and Exodus 34:10–28 were composed during different stages of Israelite history. For example, critical historian John Bright also dates the Jahwist texts to the tenth century BC, but believes that they express a theology that "had already been normalized in the period of the Judges" (i.e., of the tribal alliance).[137] He concurs about the importance of the decalogue as "a central feature in the covenant that brought together Israel into being as a people"[138] but views the parallels between Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, along with other evidence, as reason to believe that it is relatively close to its original form and Mosaic in origin.[139]

According to John Bright, however, there is an important distinction between the Decalogue and the "book of the covenant" (Exodus 21–23 and 34:10–24). The Decalogue, he argues, was modelled on the suzerainty treaties of the Hittites (and other Mesopotamian Empires), that is, represents the relationship between God and Israel as a relationship between king and vassal, and enacts that bond.[140]

"The prologue of the Hittite treaty reminds his vassals of his benevolent acts.. (compare with Exodus 20:2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery"). The Hittite treaty also stipulated the obligations imposed by the ruler on his vassals, which included a prohibition of relations with peoples outside the empire, or enmity between those within."[141] (Exodus 20:3: "You shall have no other gods before Me"). Viewed as a treaty rather than a law code, its purpose is not so much to regulate human affairs as to define the scope of the king's power.[142]

Julius Morgenstern argued that Exodus 34 is distinct from the Jahwist document, identifying it with king Asa's reforms in 899 BC.[143] Bright, however, believes that like the Decalogue this text has its origins in the time of the tribal alliance. The book of the covenant, he notes, bears a greater similarity to Mesopotamian law codes (e.g. the Code of Hammurabi which was inscribed on a stone stele). He argues that the function of this "book" is to move from the realm of treaty to the realm of law: "The Book of the Covenant (Ex., chs. 21 to 23; cf. ch. 34), which is no official state law, but a description of normative Israelite judicial procedure in the days of the Judges, is the best example of this process."[144] According to Bright, then, this body of law too predates the monarchy.[145]

Archaeologists Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman argue that "the astonishing composition came together… in the seventh century BC".[146] An even later date (after 586 BC) is suggested by David H. Aaron.[147]

Print of Moses showing the Ten Commandments. Made at the end of the sixteenth century

Exodus 34:28[148] identifies a different list, that of Exodus 34:11–27,[149] as the Ten Commandments. Since this passage does not prohibit murder, adultery, theft, etc., but instead deals with the proper worship of Yahweh, some scholars call it the "Ritual Decalogue", and disambiguate the Ten Commandments of traditional understanding as the "Ethical Decalogue".[150][151][152][153]

Richard Elliott Friedman argues that the Ten Commandments at Exodus 20:1–17 "does not appear to belong to any of the major sources. It is likely to be an independent document, which was inserted here by the Redactor."[154] In his view, the Covenant Code follows that version of the Ten Commandments in the northern Israel E narrative. In the J narrative in Exodus 34 the editor of the combined story known as the Redactor (or RJE), adds in an explanation that these are a replacement for the earlier tablets which were shattered. "In the combined JE text, it would be awkward to picture God just commanding Moses to make some tablets, as if there were no history to this matter, so RJE adds the explanation that these are a replacement for the earlier tablets that were shattered."[155]

He writes that Exodus 34:14–26 is the J text of the Ten Commandments: "The first two commandments and the sabbath commandment have parallels in the other versions of the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5). … The other seven commandments here are completely different."[156] He suggests that differences in the J and E versions of the Ten Commandments story are a result of power struggles in the priesthood. The writer has Moses smash the tablets "because this raised doubts about the Judah's central religious shrine".[157]

According to Kaufmann, the Decalogue and the book of the covenant represent two ways of manifesting God's presence in Israel: the Ten Commandments taking the archaic and material form of stone tablets kept in the ark of the covenant, while the book of the covenant took oral form to be recited to the people.[158]