10 Commandments question

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In RCIA I noticed the 10 Commandments are a little different from other 10 Commandments in the numbering and a variation of what they say. Does anyone have an explanation or know the history?
From FormerJW
 
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FormerJW:
In RCIA I noticed the 10 Commandments are a little different from other 10 Commandments in the numbering and a variation of what they say. Does anyone have an explanation or know the history?
From FormerJW
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The division and numbering of the Commandments have varied in the course of history. The present catechism follows the division of the Commandments established by St. Augustine, which has become traditional in the Catholic Church. It is also that of the Lutheran confessions. The Greek Fathers worked out a slightly different division, which is found in the Orthodox Churches and Reformed communities. (CCC 2066)
 
keep in mind that the jews also have a different numbering of the 10 commandments, that differ both from the “catholic” and “protestant” sets. part of the reason for the change from jewish to catholic numbering is a shift in understanding in human dignity. under mosaic law/eastern culture, the wife was part of the husband’s “property”. under the law of Christ, we all have dignity as individual persons - and this is reflected in the catholic church’s 10 commandments. our 9th and 10th commandments are don’t covet your neighbor’s wife and don’t covet your neighbor’s property. protestant and jewish numbering still include the wife as part of the husband’s property.

you may also notice that the protestant 2nd commandment is not directly found in ours (or the jewish) - i.e., no graven images. in jewish and catholic understanding, this is logically part of the commandment to have no other gods before Me.

personally, i think part of the re-numbering by reformers was in an effort to directly attack the catholic church with idolatry charges via their new 2nd commandment - which, as anyone who looks into catholic practices can see, these charges are completely lame. beyond that, i can see no reason for changing the 10 commandments…only a knee-jerk reaction to anything “roman”.

hope this helps…

RyanL
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Scriptures, as originally written, did not have the chapter and verse numbering that we have in our Bibles today. Thus the numbering, including that of the 10 Commandments, is more–dare I say–Traditional, rather than strictly scriptural.
 
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John_Henry:
The division and numbering of the Commandments have varied in the course of history. The present catechism follows the division of the Commandments established by St. Augustine, which has become traditional in the Catholic Church. It is also that of the Lutheran confessions. The Greek Fathers worked out a slightly different division, which is found in the Orthodox Churches and Reformed communities. (CCC 2066)
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Is there a website where I can find this" Thank you.
 
Thank you for all the information. I really appreciated reading Jim Aiken’s explanation. Thanks for the address. From FormerJW
 
Hi Former JW !!

It’s nice to see you here, I am a former JW too !! I live in Miami, Florida. Just thought I’d say hi & God bless!!
Jaypeeto2
 
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RyanL:
part of the reason for the change from jewish to catholic numbering is a shift in understanding in human dignity. under mosaic law/eastern culture, the wife was part of the husband’s “property”. under the law of Christ, we all have dignity as individual persons - and this is reflected in the catholic church’s 10 commandments.
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Dear Ryan L

Thank you for writing this. Where did you obtain this understanding?

Thank you,
Elizabeth
 
At bible study I came across this when my friends and I were trying to list the commandments…this is what we found:

Catholic and Protestant 10 Commandments vary in two ways

A: Catholics and Protestant have a different first two commandments. Catholics have having other Gods before God and not worshipping graven images as one commandment, the first commandment, and Protestants separate these into two…therefore, Protestants have four Godly commandments and 6 neighborly commandments where Catholics have 3 Godly and 7 neighborly

B: The Protestants then combine the last two commandments of the Catholic commandments of coveting thy neighbor’s goods and coveting thy neighbor’s wife, making both of them one, and the last, commandment. Catholics keep them seperate, making them the 9th and 10th commandments.

When you really look at it, the same content is there, the order is just slightly varied…I, however, am obviously sticking with the Catholic version…we’re the originals, right?🙂
 
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elizabeth4truth:
Dear Ryan L
Thank you for writing this. Where did you obtain this understanding?
Thank you,
Elizabeth
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gee whiz…i wish i could tell you. the rather vain part of me wants to think that i came up with it all by myself, but the sensible part of me knows that i’m really not that smart!

i know i thought about it when i was reading itsjustdave1988.blogspot.com/ and his latest article on slavery, but i don’t remember if he mentions it…

RyanL
 
This reminds me of a fascinating difference, one that many people seem SO unaware of: The very important difference between “You shall not kill” and "You shall not murder".

There are all sorts of cans of worms to be opened with this difference (“Capital punishment is killing, but arguably not murdering”, or “You have to kill a cow to eat it” for 2 examples), but remarkably it doesn’t seem a big deal.

I found the following summary from the Vatican Web page very interesting too, to better understand how things were changed from the original Jewish version: vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s1c3a3.htm#ten
 
Hi Jaypeeto2. Thanks for saying hello. It is always good to meet another ex-JW. I appreciate all the comments made here for my question about the commandments. Are you on any ex-JW information of support lists? FormerJW
 
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