Into to The Ten Commandments - Exodus 20

The people of Israel have gotten themselves as ready as they can at this point of their experience, and while it seems like God was the one who said “you aren’t ready for this,” when God starts speaking, the people freak out and need some distance, but we’ll discuss that later. TB has a really long technical lecture about chapter 20 but I’m going to skip most of the because I don’t think it adds a ton to what I want to look at. One thing that I thought was really interesting was that he said that the chapter heading of almost any Bible says that this chapter is where God introduces the Ten Commandments. But the Greek was translated as “Decalogue” meaning 10 words. Additionally, TB notes, “not until later, in Exodus 34:28, is this speech of God to Israel (vs. 2-17 of Ex. 20) given a formal title; and this formal title, in Hebrew, is ‘eser dabar,’” which means in Hebrew 10 words.

So what are the 10 words? Instead of meaning “commands” or “commandments,” TB notes that it is more like 10 principles or 10 statements on which to base the movement. Interestingly, when the IM talks about the 10 commandments from chapter 20, the only time that the word “commandments” is used is in the heading, the rest is of the time it’s referred to as “principles.” In fact, the heading for the explanation for Exodus 20:1-17 is “the Ten Great Foundation Stones.” This makes sense because these would be akin to manifesto statements, not simply behavioral instructions for other people and that’s significant because God is trying to change the Israelites foundational understandings and beliefs. The other common gods of the people controlled them by dictating their behaviors, but Yehoveh is trying to not just tell them what to do, but why.

Interestingly, the statement by God to the Israelites here, the IM explains are “found in three of the four standard works of the Church. In addition to the first time they were given, Moses repeated them when he summarized the experiences of Israel in the wilderness (see Deuteronomy 5:6-21). The prophet Abiniadi quoted them to the wicked priests of King Noah (see Mosiah 13:12-24), so they are also found in the Book of Mormon. And, although not given in the exact form that they appear in these scriptures, the same principles are also found in the New Testament (see Matthew 5:17-37) and in the Doctrine and Covenants (see D&C 42: 18-29; 59:5-9). When the Lord emphasizes something with that much repetition, it must be important… These commandments show us the three great priorities of life. The first four commandments show us our proper relationship to God. The fifth commandment establishes the importance of the family and proper family relationships. The last five commandments regulate our relationships with others.”