The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are recorded in chapter 20 of Exodus and in chapter 5 of Deuteronomy. The Old Testament calls them âthe words of the covenantâ (Exod 34:28) and âthe ten wordsâ (Exod 34:28; Deut 4:13); the New Testament calls them âthe commandmentsâ, in Greek áŒÎœÏολαί (Matt 19:17; Rom 13:9). Today they are often called the Decalogue, from the Greek ÎŽÎÎșα λÏγοÎč, âten wordsâ.
The two records of the Ten Commandments are essentially the same, but they give different grounds for the Sabbath commandment: in Exodus it rests on the creation of the world, in Deuteronomy on Israelâs deliverance from slavery in Egypt.
In the New Testament Jesus and the apostles refer to these commandments more than once â to all of them except the Sabbath commandment. They speak above all of keeping them inwardly rather than outwardly and single out two chief requirements: love for God and love for oneâs neighbour.
Exodus and Deuteronomy
- âI am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
- âYou shall have no other gods before20:3 Or besides me.
- You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
- You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
- Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.
- You shall not covet your neighbourâs house. You shall not covet your neighbourâs wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.â
- âI am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
- âYou shall have no other gods before5:7 Or besides me.
- You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
- You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
- Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
- Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.
- You shall not covet your neighbourâs wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbourâs house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.â
How the commandments are numbered
The text holds more than ten precepts, and there is more than one way to divide it into ten commandments. The table shows which commandment each passage counts as in each tradition; a dash means the passage is not counted among the commandments, and âpre.â marks the preamble: it has no number of its own but is held to be part of the Ten Commandments.
| Text | Exodus | Deuteronomy | Septuagint | Talmud | Augustine | Philo | Catholic | Lutheran | Reformed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| âI am the LORD thy GodâŠâ | 20:2 | 5:6 | â | 1 | â | â | 1 | â | pre. |
| âThou shalt have no other gods before meâ | 20:3 | 5:7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| âThou shalt not make unto thee any graven imageâŠâ | 20:4â6 | 5:8â10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | â | 2 |
| âThou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vainâŠâ | 20:7 | 5:11 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| âRemember (keep) the sabbath dayâŠâ | 20:8â11 | 5:12â15 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| âHonour thy father and thy motherâŠâ | 20:12 | 5:16 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| âThou shalt not killâ | 20:13 | 5:17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| âThou shalt not commit adulteryâ | 20:14 | 5:18 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| âThou shalt not stealâ | 20:15 | 5:19 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| âThou shalt not bear false witnessâŠâ | 20:16 | 5:20 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| âThou shalt not covet thy neighbourâs houseâ | 20:17 | 5:21 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| âThou shalt not covet thy neighbourâs wifeâ | 20:17 | 5:21 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| ââŠnor his manservant, nor his maidservant⊠nor any thing that is thy neighbourâsâ | 20:17 | 5:21 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
- Septuagint â the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Its division is followed today by the Orthodox Church and by most Protestant churches, except the Lutherans.
- Talmud â in the Jewish tradition the first commandment is the preamble, âI am the LORD thy GodâŠâ.
- Saint Augustine follows the Jewish tradition but does not count the preamble as a commandment, and splits the last commandment, âThou shalt not covetâ, in two, following the word order of Deuteronomy.
- Philo of Alexandria divides the text as the Septuagint does, but has âThou shalt not killâ and âThou shalt not commit adulteryâ the other way round.
- The Catholic Church follows Augustineâs division but counts the preamble as part of the first commandment.
- Lutherans follow Augustineâs division without the prohibition of images and take the text of Exodus as the basis.
- Reformed churches follow the Septuagintâs division; the preamble is held to be a necessary part of the Ten Commandments and is always said together with them.