Commandments (181 Occurrences)

Commandments

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Bible Concordance

Matthew 5:19 Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Matthew 8:18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandments to depart unto the other side.
(ASV)

Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
(KJV DBY WBS)

Matthew 19:17 He said to him, " Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Matthew 19:18 "Which Commandments?" he asked. Jesus answered, "'Thou shalt not kill;' 'Thou shalt not commit adultery;' 'Thou shalt not steal;' 'Thou shalt not lie in giving evidence;'
(WEY)

Matthew 22:40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Mark 7:7 But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
(WEB KJV DBY WBS)

Mark 10:19 You know the commandments:'Do not murder,''Do not commit adultery,''Do not steal,''Do not give false testimony,''Do not defraud,''Honor your father and mother.'"
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Mark 10:20 "Rabbi," he replied, "all these Commandments I have carefully obeyed from my youth."
(WEY)

Mark 12:28 Then one of the Scribes, who had heard them disputing and well knew that Jesus had given them an answer to the point, and a forcible one, came forward and asked Him, "Which is the chief of all the Commandments?"
(WEY NIV)

Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
(KJV WBS)

Luke 1:6 They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 18:20 You know the commandments:'Don't commit adultery,''Don't murder,''Don't steal,''Don't give false testimony,''Honor your father and your mother.'"
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

John 14:21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and remain in his love.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Acts 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
(KJV WBS)

Romans 13:9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not give false testimony," "You shall not covet," and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
(WEB RSV NIV)

1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
(KJV WBS)

Ephesians 2:15 having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace;
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Colossians 2:22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
(KJV WBS NAS)

Colossians 4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, "if he comes to you, receive him"),
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

1 Thessalonians 4:2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
(KJV WBS NAS)

1 Timothy 6:14 that you keep God's commandments stainlessly and without reproach till the Appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(WEY)

Titus 1:14 not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS)

2 Peter 2:21 For it would have been better for them not to have fully known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandments in which they were instructed.
(WEY)

2 Peter 3:2 that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
(WEB WEY ASV)

1 John 2:3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 John 2:4 One who says, "I know him," and doesn't keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn't in him.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 John 3:24 He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

2 John 1:6 This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Revelation 12:17 The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep God's commandments and hold Jesus' testimony.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
(WEB KJV WBS)

Genesis 26:5 because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Exodus 15:26 and he said, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Exodus 16:28 Yahweh said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Exodus 20:6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
(KJV WBS)

Exodus 34:28 He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 34:32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all of the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
(WEB)

Leviticus 4:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
(KJV DBY WBS)

Leviticus 4:13 And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty;
(KJV DBY WBS)

Leviticus 4:22 When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty;
(KJV DBY WBS)

Leviticus 4:27 And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty;
(KJV DBY WBS)

Leviticus 5:17 And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.
(KJV DBY WBS)

Leviticus 22:31 "Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Leviticus 26:3 "'If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Leviticus 26:14 "'But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Leviticus 26:15 and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Leviticus 27:34 These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Numbers 15:22 "'When you shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which Yahweh has spoken to Moses,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Numbers 15:39 and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Numbers 15:40 that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Numbers 36:13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 4:13 He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 4:40 You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 5:10 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 5:29 Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 5:31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.
(KJV DBY WBS NAS)

Deuteronomy 6:1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
(KJV DBY WBS)

Deuteronomy 6:2 that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 6:17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 6:25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
(KJV DBY WBS)

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that Yahweh your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 7:11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
(KJV WBS)

Deuteronomy 8:1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
(KJV WBS NAS)

Deuteronomy 8:2 You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 8:6 You shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 8:11 Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you this day:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 9:10 Yahweh delivered to me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which Yahweh spoke with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
(See NIV)

Deuteronomy 10:4 He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which Yahweh spoke to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and Yahweh gave them to me.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 10:13 to keep the commandments of Yahweh, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 11:1 Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 11:8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;
(KJV WBS)

Deuteronomy 11:13 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 11:22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
(KJV WBS)

Deuteronomy 11:27 the blessing, if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 11:28 and the curse, if you shall not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 13:4 You shall walk after Yahweh your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 13:18 when you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 15:5 Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.
(KJV WBS)

Deuteronomy 19:9 If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:
(KJV WBS)

Deuteronomy 26:13 You shall say before Yahweh your God, "I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 26:17 You have declared Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 26:18 and Yahweh has declared you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 27:1 And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.
(KJV WBS NAS)

Deuteronomy 27:10 You shall therefore obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 28:1 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 28:9 Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you; if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 28:13 Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 28:45 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 30:8 You shall return and obey the voice of Yahweh, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 30:10 if you shall obey the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Thesaurus

Commandments (181 Occurrences)
...Commandments, the Ten: (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4, marg. ... The Jews make the
"Preface" one of the commandments, and then combine the first and second. ...
/c/commandments.htm - 65k

Decalogue
... The name given by the Greek fathers to the ten commandments; "the ten words,"
as the original is more literally rendered (Exodus 20:3-17). ...
/d/decalogue.htm - 8k

Testimonies (40 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 6:17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God,
and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. ...
/t/testimonies.htm - 18k

Regulations (37 Occurrences)
... Regulations (37 Occurrences). Luke 1:6 They were both righteous before God, walking
blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. (See NIV). ...
/r/regulations.htm - 17k

Requirements (26 Occurrences)
... (WEY). Luke 1:6 They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in
all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. (See NAS). ...
/r/requirements.htm - 14k

Steal (29 Occurrences)
... Mark 10:19 You know the commandments:'Do not murder,''Do not commit adultery,''Do
not steal,''Do not give false testimony,''Do not defraud,''Honor your father ...
/s/steal.htm - 16k

Judgments (146 Occurrences)
... Leviticus 26:15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments,
so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my ...
/j/judgments.htm - 37k

Ordinances (119 Occurrences)
... Ordinances (119 Occurrences). Luke 1:6 They were both righteous before God, walking
blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. ...
/o/ordinances.htm - 37k

Keepeth (60 Occurrences)
... John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and ...
/k/keepeth.htm - 23k

Decrees (131 Occurrences)
... footsteps! (WEY). Ephesians 2:15 by setting aside the Law with its commandments,
expressed, as they were, in definite decrees. His ...
/d/decrees.htm - 36k

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Commandments, the Ten: (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4, marg. "ten words") i.e., the Decalogue (q.v.), is a summary of the immutable moral law. These commandments were first given in their written form to the people of Israel when they were encamped at Sinai, about fifty days after they came out of Egypt (Exodus 19:10-25). They were written by the finger of God on two tables of stone. The first tables were broken by Moses when he brought them down from the mount (32:19), being thrown by him on the ground. At the command of God he took up into the mount two other tables, and God wrote on them "the words that were on the first tables" (34:1). These tables were afterwards placed in the ark of the covenant (Deuteronomy 10:5; 1 Kings 8:9). Their subsequent history is unknown. They are as a whole called "the covenant" (Deuteronomy 4:13), and "the tables of the covenant" (9:9, 11; Hebrews 9:4), and "the testimony."

They are obviously "ten" in number, but their division is not fixed, hence different methods of numbering them have been adopted. The Jews make the "Preface" one of the commandments, and then combine the first and second. The Roman Catholics and Lutherans combine the first and second and divide the tenth into two. The Jews and Josephus divide them equally. The Lutherans and Roman Catholics refer three commandments to the first table and seven to the second. The Greek and Reformed Churches refer four to the first and six to the second table. The Samaritans add to the second that Gerizim is the mount of worship. (see LAW.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

COMMANDMENT; COMMANDMENTS

ko-mand'-ment (mitswah; entole): The commandments are, first of all, prescriptions, or directions of God, concerning particular matters, which He wanted observed with reference to circumstances as they arose, in a period when He spake immediately and with greater frequency than afterward. They were numerous, minute, and regarded as coordinate and independent of each other. In the Ten Commandments, or, more properly, Ten Words, EVm (debharim), they are reduced to a few all-comprehensive precepts of permanent validity, upon which every duty required of man is based. Certain prescriptions of temporary force, as those of the ceremonial and forensic laws, are applications of these "Words" to transient circumstances, and, for the time for which they were enacted, demanded perfect and unconditional obedience. The Psalms, and especially Psalm 119, show that even under the Old Testament, there was a deep spiritual appreciation of these commandments, and the extent to which obedience was deemed a privilege rather than a mere matter of constrained external compliance with duty. In the New Testament, Jesus shows in Matthew 22:37, 40 Mark 12:29, 31 Luke 10:27 (compare Romans 13:8, 10) their organic unity. The "Ten" are reduced to two, and these two to one principle, that of love. In love, obedience begins, and works from within outward. Under the New Testament the commandments are kept when they are written upon the heart (Hebrews 10:16). While in the Synoptics they are referred to in a more abstract and distant way, in both the Gospel and the Epistles of John their relation to Jesus is most prominent. They are "my commandments" (John 14:15, 21; John 15:10, 12); "my Father's" (John 10:18; John 15:10); or, many times throughout the epp., "his (i.e. Christ's) commandments." The new life in Christ enkindles love, and not only makes the commandments the rule of life, but the life itself the free expression of the commandments and of the nature of God, in which the commandments are grounded. Occasionally the word is used in the singular collectively (Exodus 24:12 Psalm 119:96 1 Corinthians 14:37).

See TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE.

H. E. Jacobs

COMMANDMENTS, THE TEN

See COMMANDMENT; TEN COMMANDMENTS.

TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE

I. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AN ISRAELITISH CODE

II. THE PROMULGATON OF THE DECALOGUE

III. ANALYSIS OF THE DECALOGUE WITH BRIEF EXEGETICAL NOTES

1. How Numbered

2. How Grouped

3. Original Form

4. Brief Exegetical Notes

IV. JESUS AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

LITERATURE

In the Old Testament the Decalogue is uniformly referred to as "the ten words" (Exodus 34:28 margin; Deuteronomy 4:13 margin; 10:4 margin), or simply as "the words" spoken by Yahweh (Exodus 20:1; Exodus 34:27 Deuteronomy 5:22; Deuteronomy 10:2), or as "the words of the covenant" (Exodus 34:28). In the New Testament they are called "commandments" (Matthew 19:17 Ephesians 6:2), as with us in most Christian lands.

I. The Ten Commandments an Israelite Code.

The "ten words" were spoken by Yahweh to the people whom He had but recently delivered from Egyptian bondage, and then led out into the wilderness, that He might teach them His laws. It was to Israel that the Decalogue was primarily addressed, and not to all mankind. Thus, the reason assigned for keeping the 5th commandment applies to the people who were on their way to the land which had been given to Abraham and his descendants (Exodus 20:12); and the 4th commandment is enforced by reference to the servitude in Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15). It is possible, then, that even in the Ten Commandments there are elements peculiar to the Mosaic system and which our Lord and His apostles may not make a part of faith and duty for Christians.

See SABBATH.

Of the "ten words," seven were perhaps binding on the consciences of enlightened men prior to the days of Moses: murder, adultery, theft and false witness were already treated as crimes among the Babylonians and the Egyptians; and intelligent men knew that it was wrong to dishonor God by improper use of His name, or to show lack of respect to parents, or to covet the property of another. No doubt the sharp, ringing words in which these evils are forbidden in the Ten Commandments gave to Israel a clearer apprehension of the sins referred to than they had ever had before; and the manner in which they were grouped by the divine speaker brought into bold relief the chief elements of the moral law. But the first two prohibitions were novelties in the religious life of the world; for men worshipped many gods, and bowed down to images of every conceivable kind. The 2nd commandment was too high even for Israel to grasp at that early day; a few weeks later the people were dancing about the golden calf at the foot of Sinai. The observance of the Sabbath was probably unknown to other nations, though it may have been already known in the family of Abraham.

II. The Promulgation of the Decalogue.

The "ten words" were spoken by Yahweh Himself from the top of the mount under circumstances the most awe-inspiring. In the early morning there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud. It is no wonder that the people trembled as they faced the smoking and quaking mount, and listened to the high demands of a holy God. Their request that all future revelations should be made through Moses as the prophet mediator was quite natural. The promulgation of the Ten Commandments stands out as the most notable event in all the wilderness sojourn of Israel. There was no greater day in history before the coming of the Son of God into the world.

After a sojourn of 40 days in the mount, Moses came down with "the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." At the foot of the mount, when Moses saw the golden calf and the dancing throng about it, he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them in pieces (Exodus 31:18; Exodus 39:15-20). Through the intercession of Moses, the wrath of Yahweh was averted from Israel; and Yahweh invited Moses to ascend the mount with two new tablets, on which He would write the words that were on the first tables, which were broken. Moses was commanded to write the special precepts given by God during this interview; but the. Ten Commandments were written on the stone tablets by Yahweh Himself (Exodus 34:1-4, 27-29 Deuteronomy 10:1-5). These precious tablets were later deposited in the ark of the covenant (Exodus 40:20). Thus in every way possible the Ten Commandments are exalted as the most precious and directly divine of all the precepts of the Mosaic revelation.

III. Analysis of the Decalogue with Brief Exegetical Notes.

That there were "ten words" is expressly stated (Exodus 34:28 Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 10:4); but just how to delimit them one from another is a task which has not been found easy. For a full discussion of the various theories, see Dillmann, Exodus, 201-5, to whom we are indebted for much that is here set forth.

1. How Numbered:

(1) Josephus is the first witness for the division now common among Protestants (except Lutherans), namely,

(a) foreign gods,

(b) images,

(c) name of God,

(d) Sabbath,

(e) parents,

(f) murder,

(g) adultery,

(h) theft,

(i) false witness,

(j) coveting.

Before him, Philo made the same arrangement, except that he followed the Septuagint in putting adultery before murder. This mode of counting was current with many of the church Fathers, and is now in use in the Greek Catholic church and with most Protestants.

(2) Augustine combined foreign gods and images (Exodus 20:2-6) into one commandment and following the order of Deuteronomy 5:21 (Hebrew 18) made the 9th commandment a prohibition of the coveting of a neighbor's wife, while the 10th prohibits the coveting of his house and other property. Roman Catholics and Lutherans accept Augustine's mode of reckoning, except that they follow the order in Exodus 20:17, so that the 9th commandment forbids the coveting of a neighbor's house, while the 10th includes his wife and all other property.

(3) A third mode of counting is that adopted by the Jews in the early Christian centuries, which became universal among them in the Middle Ages and so down to the present time. According to this scheme, the opening statement in Exodus 20:2 is the "first word," Exodus 20:3-6 the second (combining foreign gods with images), while the following eight commandments are as in the common Protestant arrangement.

The division of the prohibition of coveting into two commandments is fatal to the Augustinian scheme; and the reckoning of the initial statement in Exodus 20:2 as one of the "ten words" seems equally fatal to the modern Jewish method of counting. The prohibition of images, which is introduced by the solemn formula, "Thou shalt not," is surely a different "word" from the command to worship no god other than Yahweh. Moreover, if nine of the "ten words" are commandments, it would seem reasonable to make the remaining "word" a commandment, if this can be done without violence to the subjectmatter. See Eerdmaus, The Expositor, July, 1909, 21;.

2. How Grouped:

(1) The Jews, from Philo to the present, divide the "ten words" into two groups of five each. As there were two tables, it would be natural to suppose that five commandments were recorded on each tablet, though the fact that the tablets had writing on both their sides (Exodus 32:15) would seem to weaken the force of the argument for an equal division. Moreover, the first pentad, in the present text of Exodus and Deuteronomy, is more than four times as long as the second.

(2) Augustine supposed that there were three commandments on the first table and seven on the second. According to his method of numbering the commandments, this would put the command to honor parents at the head of the second table, as in the third method of grouping the ten words.

(3) Calvin and many moderns assign four commandments to the first table and six to the second. This has the advantage of assigning all duties to God to the first table and all duties to men to the second. It also accords with our Lord's reduction of the commandments to two (Matthew 22:34-40).

3. Original Form:

A comparison of the text of the Decalogue in Deuteronomy 5 with that in Exodus 20 reveals a goodly number of differences, especially in the reasons assigned for the observance of the 4th and 5th commandments, and in the text of the 10th commandment. A natural explanation of these differences is the fact that Deuteronomy employs the free-and-easy style of public discourse. The Ten Commandments are substantially the same in the two passages.

From the days of Ewald to the present, some of the leading Old Testament scholars have held that originally all the commandments were brief and without the addition of any special reasons for their observance. According to this hypothesis, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and the 10th commandments were probably as follows: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image"; "Thou shalt not take the name of Yahweh thy God in vain"; "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy"; "Honor thy father and thy mother"; "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house." This early critical theory would account for the differences in the two recensions by supposing that the motives for keeping the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th commandments, as well as the expansion of the 10th, were additions made through the influence of the prophetic teaching. If accompanied by a full recognition of the divine origin of the ten words in the Mosaic era, this hypothesis might be acceptable to a thorough believer in revelation. Before acquiescing in the more radical theories of some recent scholars, such a believer will demand more cogent arguments than the critics have been able to bring forward. Thus when we are told that the Decalogue contains prohibitions that could not have been incorporated into a code before the days of Manasseh, we demand better proofs than the failure of Israel to live up to the high demands of the 2nd and the 10th commandments, or a certain theory of the evolution of the history that may commend itself to the mind of naturalistic critics. Yahweh was at work in the early history of Israel; and the great prophets of the 8th century, far from creating ethical monotheism, were reformers sent to demand that Israel should embody in daily life the teachings of the Torah.

Goethe advanced the view that Exodus 34:10-28 originally contained a second decalogue.

Wellhausen (Code of Hammurabi, 331) reconstructs this so-called decalogue as follows:

(1) Thou shalt worship no other god (Exodus 34:14).

(2) Thou shalt make thee no molten gods (Exodus 34:17).

(3) The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep (Exodus 34:18 a).

(4) Every firstling is mine (Exodus 34:19 a).

(5) Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks (Exodus 34:22 a).

(6) And the feast of ingathering at the year's end (Exodus 34:22 c).

(7) Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread (Exodus 34:25 a).

(8) The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning (23:18b; compare 34:25b).

(9) The best of the first-fruits of thy ground shalt thou bring to the house of Yahweh thy God (Exodus 34:26 a).

(10) Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk (Exodus 34:26).

Addis agrees with Wellhausen that even this simpler decalogue must be put long after the time of Moses (EB, 1051).

Now, it is evident that the narrative in Exodus 34:27, in its present form, means to affirm that Moses was commanded to write the precepts contained in the section immediately preceding. The Ten Commandments, as the foundation of the covenant, were written by Yahweh Himself on the two tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:15; 34:28). It is only by free critical handling of the narrative that it can be made to appear that Moses wrote on the two tables the supposed decalogue of Exodus 34:14-26. Moreover, the law of the Sabbath (34:21), which is certainly appropriate amid the ritual ordinances of Exodus 34, must be omitted altogether, in order to reduce the precepts to ten; also the command in 34:23 has to be deleted. It is interesting to observe that the prohibition of molten gods (34:17), even according to radical critics, is found in the earliest body of Israelite laws. There is no sufficient reason for denying that the 2nd commandment was promulgated in the days of Moses. Yahweh's requirements have always been in advance of the practice of His people.

4. Brief Exegetical Notes:

(1) The 1st commandment prohibits the worship of any god other than Yahweh. If it be said that this precept inculcates monolatry and not monotheism, the reply is ready to hand that a consistent worship of only one God is, for a people surrounded by idolaters, the best possible approach to the conclusion that there is only one true God. The organs of revelation, whatever may have been the notions and practices of the mass of the Israelite people, always speak in words that harmonize with a strict monotheism.

(2) The 2nd commandment forbids the use of images in worship; even an image of Yahweh is not to be tolerated (compare Exodus 32:5). Yahweh's mercy is greater than His wrath; while the iniquity of the fathers descends to the third and the fourth generation for those who hate Yahweh, His mercy overflows to thousands who love Him. It is doubtful whether the rendering `showing mercy to the thousandth generation' (Exodus 20:6) can be successfully defended.

(3) Yahweh's name is sacred, as standing for His person; therefore it must be employed in no vain or false way. The commandment, no doubt, includes more than false swearing. Cursing, blasphemy and every profane use of Yahweh's name are forbidden.

(4) As the 1st commandment inculcates the unity of God and the 2nd His spirituality, so also the 3rd commandment guards His name against irreverent use and the 4th sets apart the seventh day as peculiarly His day, reserved for a Sabbath. Exodus 20:11 emphasizes the religious aspect of the Sabbath, while Deuteronomy 5:14 lays stress on its humane aspect, and Deuteronomy 5:15 links it with the deliverance from bondage in Egypt.

(5) The transition from duties to God to duties to men is made naturally in the 5th commandment, which inculcates reverence for parents, to whom their children should look up with gratitude, as all men should toward the Divine Father.

(6) Human life is so precious and sacred that no man should dare to take it away by violence.

(7) The family life is safeguarded by the 7th commandment.

(8) The 8th commandment forbids theft in all its forms. It recognizes the right of personal ownership of property.

(9) The 9th commandment safeguards honor and good name among men. Slander, defamation, false testimony in court and kindred sins are included.

(10) The 10th commandment is the most searching of them all, for it forbids the inward longing, the covetous desire for what belongs to another. The presence of such a deeply spiritual command among the "ten words" shows that we have before us no mere code of laws defining crimes, but a body of ethical and spiritual precepts for the moral education of the people of Yahweh.

IV. Jesus and the Ten Commandments.

Our Lord, in the interview with the rich young ruler, gave a recapitulation of the commandments treating of duties to men (Mark 10:19 Matthew 19:18 Luke 18:20). He quotes the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th commandments. The minor variations in the reports in the three Synoptic Gospels remind the student of the similar variations in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Already in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus had quoted the 6th and 7th commandments, and then had gone on to show that anger is incipient murder, and that lust is adultery in the heart (Matthew 5:27-32). He takes the words of the Decalogue and extends them into the realm of thought and feeling. He may have had in mind the 3rd commandment in His sharp prohibition of the Jewish habit of swearing by various things (Matthew 5:33-37). As to the Sabbath, His teaching and example tended to lighten the onerous restrictions of the rabbis (Mark 2:23-28). Duty to parents He elevated above all supposed claims of vows and offerings (Matthew 15:4-6). In further extension of the 8th commandment, Jesus said, "Do not defraud" (Mark 10:19); and in treating of the ethics of speech, Jesus not only condemns false witness, but also includes railing, blasphemy, and even an idle word (Matthew 15:19; Matthew 12:31, 36 f). In His affirmation that God is spirit (John 4:24), Jesus made the manufacture of images nothing but folly. All his ethical teaching might be said to be founded on the 10th commandment, which tracks sin to its lair in the mind and soul of man.

Our Lord embraced the whole range of human obligation in two, or at most three, commands: (1) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"; (2) "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:37-40; compare Deuteronomy 6:5 Leviticus 19:18). With love such as is here described in the heart, man cannot trespass against God or his fellow-men. At the close of His ministry, on the night of the betrayal, Jesus gave to His followers a third commandment, not different from the two on which the whole Law hangs, but an extension of the second great commandment upward into a higher realm of self-sacrifice (John 13:34; 15:12, 17; compare Ephesians 5:2 Galatians 6:10 1 John 3:14-18). "Thou shalt love" is the first word and the last in the teaching of our Lord. His teaching is positive rather than negative, and so simple that a child can understand it. For the Christian, the Decalogue is no longer the highest summary of human duty. He must ever read it with sincere respect as one of the great monuments of the love of God in the moral and religious education of mankind; but it has given place to the higher teaching of the Son of God, all that was permanently valuable in the Ten Commandments having been taken up into the teaching of our Lord and His apostles.

LITERATURE.

Oehler, Old Testament Theology, I, 267;; Dillmann, Exodus-Leviticus, 200-219; Kuenen, Origin and Composition of the Hexateuch, 244; Wellhausen, Code of Hammurabi, 331 f; Rothstein, Das Bundesbuch; Baenstch, Das Bundesbuch; Meissaner, Der Dekalog; Driver, "Deuteronomy," ICC; Addis, Documents of the Hexateuch, I, 136;; R. W. Dale, The Ten Commandments; G. D. Boardman, University Lectures on the Ten Commandments (Philadelphia, 1889).

John Richard Sampey

Greek

1778. entalma -- an injunction, ie religious precept
... See 1785 (). Word Origin from entellomai Definition an injunction, ie religious
precept NASB Word Usage commandments (1), precepts (2). commandment. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1778.htm - 6k

3852. paraggelia -- an instruction, a command
... Word Origin from paraggello Definition an instruction, a command NASB Word Usage
command (2), commandments (1), instruction (1), strict orders (1). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3852.htm - 7k

1785. entole -- an injunction, order, command
... Origin from entellomai Definition an injunction, order, command NASB Word Usage
command (2), commanded* (1), commandment (38), commandments (23), instructions ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1785.htm - 7k

Topical Bible Verses

John 14:15
If you love me, keep my commandments.
Topicalbible.org

Exodus 20:1-26
And God spoke all these words, saying,
Topicalbible.org

Exodus 34:28
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Topicalbible.org

2 John 1:6
And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
Topicalbible.org

1 John 4:21
And this commandment have we from him, That he who loves God love his brother also.
Topicalbible.org

2 John 1:5
And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
Topicalbible.org

1 John 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Topicalbible.org

Revelation 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Topicalbible.org

Strong's Hebrew

4687. mitsvah -- commandment
... 4686b, 4687. mitsvah. 4688 . commandment. Transliteration: mitsvah Phonetic
Spelling: (mits-vaw') Short Definition: commandments. ...
/hebrew/4687.htm - 6k

1697. dabar -- speech, word
... 3), case (9), cases (1), cause (3), charge (2), Chronicles (3), Chronicles* (38),
claims (1), command (11), commandment (1), commandments (1), Commandments (2 ...
/hebrew/1697.htm - 8k

Library

The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments. <. The Ten Commandments Thomas Watson. Table of Contents.
Title Page. 1. INTRODUCTION. 1.1 Obedience. 1.2 Love. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/

Keeping the Commandments.
... KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS. God's Word is pure. Heaven itself and the great
white throne is no more pure than the Word of God. That ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/orr/how to live a holy life/keeping the commandments.htm

The Ten Commandments.
... THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. The Israelites ... trembled. Then God spake from the midst
of the fire, and gave the people the Ten Commandments. These ...
/.../anonymous/mother stories from the old testament/the ten commandments.htm

The Ten Commandments.
... THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 2 Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness ...
/.../various/indian methodist hymn-book/the ten commandments.htm

The Conclusion to the Commandments
... I. The Ten Commandments: The Simple Way a Father Should Present Them to His
Household K. The Conclusion to the Commandments. Q. What ...
/.../luther/luthers little instruction book/k the conclusion to the.htm

The Sum of the Commandments.
... Divine Songs The sum of the commandments. 8,8. With all thy soul
love God above; And as thyself thy neighbor love. ...
/.../watts/divine and moral songs/the sum of the commandments.htm

The Ten Commandments
... Divine Songs The Ten Commandments. 8,8. 1. Thou shalt have no more Gods but me.
2. Before no idol bow thy knee. 3. Take not the Name of God in vain: ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watts/divine and moral songs/the ten commandments.htm

On the Commandments of God
... Lesson 29 ON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD. ... We call some commandments the
Commandments of God and others the commandments of the Church. ...
/.../kinkead/baltimore catechism no 4/lesson 29 on the commandments.htm

General Commandments.
... constitutions of the holy apostles. Book I. Concerning the Laity. Sec.
I."General Commandments. The apostles and elders to all ...
/.../various/constitutions of the holy apostles/sec i general commandments.htm

The Preface to the Commandments
The Ten Commandments. <. ... 1. INTRODUCTION 1.3 The Preface to the Commandments.
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God,' &c. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/1 3 the preface to the.htm

Subtopics

Commandments

Commandments of Men

Commandments: General Scriptures Concerning

Commandments: Other Apostles: Precepts of, Explicitly Stated or Implied in Didactic Epistles

Commandments: Precepts of Jesus--Explicitly Stated, or Implied in Didactic Discourse

Commandments: Precepts of Paul--Explicitly Stated or Implied in Didactic Epistles

the Ten Commandments: Enumerated

the Ten Commandments: Law of, is Spiritual

the Ten Commandments: Spoken by God

the Ten Commandments: Summed up Christ

the Ten Commandments: Written by God