The Ten Commandments

Decalogue

Greek “deka logoi”, the ten words, translating the Hebrew phrase.

💡 Did you know? In Hebrew they are not called “commandments” but “words”: aseret ha-dibrot.

Moses

He leads Israel out of Egypt and climbs the mountain alone while the people wait below.

💡 Did you know? When he returns the people are dancing round a golden calf; he smashes the tablets and has to fetch new ones.

Mount Sinai

In Deuteronomy the same mountain is called Horeb.

💡 Did you know? Its location is still unsettled; monastic tradition places it on the Sinai Peninsula.

Two stone tablets

The split is traditionally read as meaning: the first tablet governs the relationship to God, the second the relationship to other people.

💡 Did you know? The tablets still appear in synagogues and churches as a motif with two rounded tops.

Exodus and Deuteronomy

The two versions agree in substance but differ in around twenty details.

💡 Did you know? Even the reason given for the day of rest differs: creation in one, the escape from Egypt in the other.

Judaism and Christianity

They stand in the Torah and therefore in the Old Testament, which both religions share.

💡 Did you know? The Quran contains comparable commands too, for instance in Sura 17.

No other gods

Catholics and Lutherans fold the ban on images into this first commandment.

💡 Did you know? Scholars read it first of all as a demand for loyalty to one god, not as a claim that no others exist.

Taking God's name in vain

It aims above all at false oaths and curses, not merely at careless speech.

💡 Did you know? Out of reverence, observant Jews do not pronounce the divine name at all and say “Adonai” (the Lord) instead.

Keeping the Sabbath holy

In Judaism that is the Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening; most Christians keep Sunday instead.

💡 Did you know? The commandment explicitly covers servants, foreigners and livestock too, which makes it a protective right as much as a religious duty.

Honouring father and mother

Paul calls it in Ephesians the first commandment with a promise attached: “that your days may be long”.

💡 Did you know? It originally had grown children in view above all, expected to care for parents who had become old.

Killing

The Hebrew word means deliberate, unlawful killing, which is why many modern translations render it “murder”.

💡 Did you know? “Kill” or “murder” is one of the most consequential translation questions in the whole Bible.

Adultery

In Catholic moral theology this commandment traditionally gathered every question of sexual ethics.

💡 Did you know? Under Old Testament law the penalty fell on both parties alike.

Stealing

Some interpreters suspect it originally meant kidnapping, that is, carrying a person off into slavery.

💡 Did you know? In Hebrew it is only two words long, one of the shortest sentences in the Bible.

Bearing false witness

The wording has a courtroom in view: it targets the false testimony that wrongly incriminates someone.

💡 Did you know? Strictly speaking it is therefore not a general ban on lying, even though it is usually understood that way.

Coveting

Catholics and Lutherans split this one in two, listing the neighbour's wife and the neighbour's goods separately.

💡 Did you know? It is the only commandment that forbids no deed at all, but an attitude.

Because of the ban on images

Catholics and Lutherans fold it into the first commandment and split the ban on coveting in two, so their numbers run one lower from the second commandment onwards.

💡 Did you know? Jewish tradition counts differently again, taking God's self-introduction as the first of the ten words.

Making a graven image

Reformed churches read it strictly, as covering images of one's own God as well.

💡 Did you know? This is why Reformed churches are often plain, while Orthodox ones are full of icons: Orthodoxy distinguishes venerating an image from worshipping it.