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 Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
âYou shall have no other gods before me.
âYou shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
âYou shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God,20:7 or, You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.
âRemember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
âHonor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
âYou shall not murder.
âYou shall not commit adultery.
âYou shall not steal.
âYou shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
âYou shall not covet your neighborâs house. You shall not covet your neighborâs wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighborâs.â
âI am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
âYou shall have no other gods before me.
âYou shall not make a carved image for yourselfâany likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
âYou shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God;5:11 or, You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.
âObserve the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. You shall labor six days, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any workâneither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
âHonor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
âYou shall not murder.
âYou shall not commit adultery.
âYou shall not steal.
âYou shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
âYou shall not covet your neighborâs wife. Neither shall you desire your neighborâs house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighborâs.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.