The Decalogue (lit. “Ten Words”) is often viewed as
embodying some of the high values of the Western civilization. It appears in
the Bible in two parallel but conflicting versions, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy
5. Yet, it is amazing to read what many people think the Ten Commandments say
or include. Here below I wish to identify some of the most popular erroneous
assumptions about this famous text:
1: Everyone agrees on the number of injunctions in the
Decalogue. This is wrong because the text contains more than ten
instructions formulated in the imperatives (that is, Do this…Do not do that). In
order to arrive at “ten,” some injunctions need to be combined. In the Bible, ”ten”
most likely represents a quorum (cf. “ten” judges in Ruth 4:2). Someone
suggested that we have “ten” commandments, because we have “ten” fingers with
which to count! Who knows?
2: Everyone agrees on the division of the Ten
Commandments. This too is wrong, because the traditional Jewish division is
different from the many Christian divisions. Thus, for example, whereas in the
Jewish tradition the very first statement, “I am the Lord your God…” is
considered as the first commandment, in many Christian traditions, this is
viewed only as an introduction to the following commandment that reads, “You
shall not have other gods…”
3: The meaning of the Ten Commandments is clear. This
is also not true, because there is an ongoing scholarly dispute on the correct
understanding of many of the injunctions. For example, it is not clear whether
the original Hebrew meant, “You shall not kill” or “You shall not murder.”
4: The Ten Commandments are the essence of Judaism.
This is not correct either, because, even though the Decalogue is considered
important in Jewish lore, the Rabbis of old purposely removed them from the
liturgy when “heretics” (early Christians?) claimed that only these
commandments were revealed by God (BT Ber. 12a). Most Sephardic Jews do not
even stand up when the Ten Commandments are recited. Many Reform Jews do.
5. The Decalogue represents ten “commandments.” This
is not so clear. The word “commandment” (mitzvah) does not appear in the
text. In the Bible they are simply called aseret ha-diberot, “ten words”
(Deut. 10: 4; cf. Ex. 34: 28). The Rabbis referred to them as aseret ha-debarim
(“ten words.”). In time, they were
viewed as commandments because the term dibber became a technical term
for divine speech (see, Jer. 5: 13). If God said them, they must be
commandments!
6: Because many people assume the Decalogue is important in
the Judeo-Christian tradition, they attribute to it injunctions that do not
appear in the text, such as “You shall not lie,” or “Do not do to others what
you don’t want them to do to you.” Sorry,
these are not part of the Ten Commandments.
These major popular but misleading claims led to me to do an
in-depth study of the Ten Commandments for many years, which culminates in the
publication of my new book, And God Spoke These Words; the Ten Commandments
and Contemporary Ethics, by the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Press. Please
check it out for other details to see how the Decalogue was interpreted
historically and how it is applied to modern ethical situations. The link is:
http://www.urjbooksandmusic.com/product.php?productid=12549&cat=0&page=1&featured.
Rifat Sonsino, PhD
Nov. 2013
