10, 17, or 21 Commandments?

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I was teaching a class recently and my co-teacher kept mentioning 17, 21 and the Ten Commandments. Is there an authentic Catholic teaching on the history of the number of Commandments? Any help is appreciated, thanks.
 
To see how many commandments there are, consult a good examination of conscience 😮
 
I have read a book about the eleven commandments. It was about the ten commandments of the OT plus the New Commandment of Jesus ‘love one another as I have loved you’. It was about their relevance to modern life
 
He provided this explanation:
The Decalogue, literally “Ten Words,” as we know it today is a combination of the two lists narrowed down to ten for the sake of simplicity. The duplication in the second list shows that many commandments were easily accepted as basic rules necessary for the good order of society.
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This is a recurring topic here at CAF. Here is one thread dealing with the question, from March this year. There are several others, if you care to hunt them down.
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Did The Catholic Church change the 10 Commandments? Apologetics
Hi members! It is said that Bishop Augustine of Hippo in order to allow use of images & statues in worship services, he deleted the Second Commandment, divided the Tenth into two Commandments and then re-numbered his revised list of 10. This is a constant attack on we Catholics. Can somebody explain to me what was the motive behind those changes? Warm regards, Addoe.
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@BoomerangToo’s post #23 or 24 is particularly interesting, with the table showing several different numbering systems that have been used by different churches at different times.
 
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The tradition has always been to say there are ten commandments, I can’t see any compelling reason to change.

The film was the Ten Commandments, the plaques and the lawsuits concerning them always referred to the “Ten”, President Reagan referred to the “Republicans 11th commandment”,which makes no sense if we don’t stick with the tradition of 10.
 
Kind of like Mel Brook’s “History of the World” where he plays Moses and drops the stones
 
In Judaism it’s traditionally believed that there are a total of 613 commands (including the Ten Commandments).

As far as the Ten Commandments, the listing of them is Exodus 34:14-26 not the ones listed in Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5.
 
@catarinadesiena

there are only 10 Commandments Exodus 20:1-21 Jesus summed up the 10 Commandments in 2 Commandments John 13:34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The Golden Rule Matthew 7:12 “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

others are not Commandments but precepts,and statues

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/command.htm

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2.htm

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

"Teacher, what must I do . . .?"

**[2052 “Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” To the young man who asked this question, Jesus answers first by invoking the necessity to recognize God as the “One there is who is good,” as the supreme Good and the source of all good. Then Jesus tells him: “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” And he cites for his questioner the precepts that concern love of neighbor: “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.” Finally Jesus sums up these commandments positively: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."1

**[2053 To this first reply Jesus adds a second: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."2 This reply does not do away with the first: following Jesus Christ involves keeping the Commandments. The Law has not been abolished,3 but rather man is invited to rediscover it in the person of his Master who is its perfect fulfillment. In the three synoptic Gospels, Jesus’ call to the rich young man to follow him, in the obedience of a disciple and in the observance of the Commandments, is joined to the call to poverty and chastity.4 The evangelical counsels are inseparable from the Commandments.

*[2054 Jesus acknowledged the Ten Commandments, but he also showed the power of the Spirit at work in their letter. He preached a "righteousness [which] exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees"5 as well as that of the Gentiles.6 He unfolded all the demands of the Commandments. "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill.’ . . . But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment."7

**[2055] When someone asks him, "Which commandment in the Law is the greatest?"8 Jesus replies: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets."9 The Decalogue must be interpreted in light of this twofold yet single commandment of love, the fullness of the Law:
 
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If you look closely the exact phrasing of the commandments is chosen by the local bishops conference and has considerable variation between cultures - go to wikipedia and by changing languages you get considerable change in semantics. The commandments of the stone tables however are part of history and biblical studies, so the transcription you find in a good edition of the bible should be exact with minimum differences.
 
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