Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments are a set of rules or laws. The Bible says that God gave them to the people of Israel.^[1] The commandments exist in different versions. One version can be found in the Book of Exodus of the Bible. Another version can be found in the Book of Deuteronomy. In the Book of Exodus, the mountain where they were given is called Mount Sinai, the Book of Deuteronomy talks about Mount Horeb (the same Mount Horeb where God called Moses from the burning bush, Exodus 3:1-3).^[2] Both are probably names for the same mountain. The laws were written on stone tablets. These laws are important for Judaism and Christianity. Countries which follow those religions often have some of the commandments as part of their Civil laws.

Moses holding the tablets of the Ten Commandments. Eastern Orthodox icon from the 1590s.

Moses smashing the Tables of the Law is a painting by Rembrandt van Rijn

Sometimes these rules are also called Decalogue (from Greek, can be translated as ten statements). The name decalogue first occurs in the Septuagint. The Israelites received the commandments after they had left Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III. There are different texts talking about the commandments. Most of them are in the Bible: The Book of Exodus, Chapter 20 and the book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 5. The Qu'ran mentions the tablets but does not list exactly the same commandments. For instance Quran 17:23-39 began with worshipping God alone and honouring your parents.

The Exodus version (from the English Standard Version of the Bible^[3]

1. “You shall have no other gods before me."
2. “You shall not make yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God are only worthy of worship, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."
3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain."
4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."
6. “You shall not murder."
7. “You shall not commit adultery."
8. “You shall not steal."
9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
10. “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

Ten Commandments in the Old Testament Torah

The Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy Chapter 5: verses 1-22 New King James Version^[4]

5 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. ² The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ³ The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. ⁴ The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. ⁵ I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:

⁶ ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

⁷ ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁸ ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁹ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ¹⁰ but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

¹¹ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

¹² ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: 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 cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁷ ‘You shall not murder.

¹⁸ ‘You shall not commit adultery with somebody’s spouse.

¹⁹ ‘You shall not steal.

²⁰ ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

²¹ ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.