The Ten Commandments

[Catholic4Jesus]

Catholic 10 Commandments:

1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
   2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
2. Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.
3. Honor thy father and mother.
4. Thou shalt not kill.
5. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
6. Thou shalt not steal.
7. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
   9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
   10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods.

Protestant 10 Commandments:

1.I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy.
5. Honor thy father and mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
**10. Thou shalt not covet. **

Interesting, how these commandments are not the same. Protestants constantly judge Catholics for “removing the 2nd commandment and splitting the last commandment into two just so they’ll have ten. Because they worship images more than God.” How can we counter-refute that false claim?

 

[RevDon]

Catholic 10 Commandments:

1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
   2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
2. Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.
3. Honor thy father and mother.
4. Thou shalt not kill.
5. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
6. Thou shalt not steal.
7. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
   9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
   10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods.

Protestant 10 Commandments:

1.I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy.
5. Honor thy father and mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
**10. Thou shalt not covet. **

Interesting, how these commandments are not the same. Protestants constantly judge Catholics for “removing the 2nd commandment and splitting the last commandment into two just so they’ll have ten. Because they worship images more than God.” How can we counter-refute that false claim?

Here’s the NIV version (which I suppose is “Protestant”:

Exodus 20

New International Version (NIV)

The Ten Commandments

20 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

 

[Della]

Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary describes the difference between numbering the commandments:

Ver. 1. The Lord now, by his angel, delivers in an intelligible manner, the ten words, or commandments, which contain the sum of all the natural law, and may be reduced to the two precepts of charity, Matthew xxii. 40; Mark xii. 31. How these commandments are to be divided into ten, the ancients are not perfectly agreed. We follow the authority of St. Augustine, (9. 71,) St. Clement of Alexandria, (strom. 6,) and others, in referring three of the precepts to God, and seven to our neighbour. Protestants adopt the Jewish method, of making four commandments of the first table, and six of the second; as they divide our first into two, and unite the 9th and 10th; though it surely must appear rational to admit a distinct precept, for an internal as well as for an external object; and the desires of committing adultery or theft, require a distinct prohibition no less than the external actions. Whereas the forbidding to have strange gods, or to worship images, or creatures of any description, is exactly of the same tendency. For no one can worship an idol, without admitting a strange god. The latter part, therefore, of the first commandment, or the second of Protestants, is only a farther explanation of what had gone before, as Moses himself clearly insinuates, ver. 23, You shall not make gods of silver, &c.

 

[pnewton]

There is a third numbering, the Jewish, in which the first Commandment, or word, is just a statement. “I am the Lord your God.” The Second Commandment is no other gods before Me.

In all three numbering systems, the whole passage remains as the Ten Commandments. It is just the grouping that changes.

 

[meltzerboy]

There is a third numbering, the Jewish, in which the first Commandment, or word, is just a statement. “I am the Lord your God.” The Second Commandment is no other gods before Me.

In all three numbering systems, the whole passage remains as the Ten Commandments. It is just the grouping that changes.

In fact, in Hebrew all of them are known as the Ten Statements rather than the Ten Commandments.

 

[Della]

In fact, in Hebrew all of them are known as the Ten Statements rather than the Ten Commandments.

Yeah, but “Commandments” just has such an authorative ring about it.

Can you see Charleton Heston coming down the mountain and declaring.

“Here are God’s Ten Statements!” :yawn:

Just not the same!

 

[meltzerboy]

Yeah, but “Commandments” just has such an authorative ring about it.

Can you see Charleton Heston coming down the mountain and declaring.

“Here are God’s Ten Statements!” :yawn:

Just not the same!

I know what you mean, and can’t wait for another installment of the Charlton Heston classic this Passover/Easter. There was a remake of the Ten Commandments that tried to be more natural and realistic, but it was boring as heck.

 

[Della]

I know what you mean, and can’t wait for another installment of the Charlton Heston classic this Passover/Easter. There was a remake of the Ten Commandments that tried to be more natural and realistic, but it was boring as heck.

Yes, there have been other remakes that simply do not capture Cecil B. deMille’s knack for the dramatic. I love it when Moses comes back to Egypt as the conquering hero and the people are crying out: “Moooooses! Moooooses!” I get such a kick out of the overly dramatic way de Mille had them crying out his name. And Yul Brynner’s thick accent as he says, “You have filled all things with death!” I can’t help but chuckle at some of de Mille’s over-the-top touches and the stilted performances, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Anyway, back to the topic.

 

[Stephen168]

Catholic 10 Commandments:

1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
   2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
2. Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.
3. Honor thy father and mother.
4. Thou shalt not kill.
5. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
6. Thou shalt not steal.
7. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
   9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
   10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods.

Protestant 10 Commandments:

1.I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy.
5. Honor thy father and mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
**10. Thou shalt not covet. **

Interesting, how these commandments are not the same. Protestants constantly judge Catholics for “removing the 2nd commandment and splitting the last commandment into two just so they’ll have ten. Because they worship images more than God.” How can we counter-refute that false claim?

I count 12 or 13 commandments:
Exodus 20:1-17:

And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for 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 am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands** of those who love me and keep my commandments.

”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.**

”Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 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, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.11 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.

”Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

”You shall not murder.

”You shall not commit adultery.

”You shall not steal.

”You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

”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.”I would think there are a few different ways to lump them into 10.

 

[RevDon]

I count 12 or 13 commandments:
I would think there are a few different ways to lump them into 10.

It’s sort of like counting the 40 days of Lent

 

[zz912]

There is no numbering of the Commandments in the Scriptures. Scripture only says there are 10, but doesn’t number them. In all different ways of numbering them, the declaration of God is the same.

 

[Augustine3]

Catholic 10 Commandments:

1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
   2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
2. Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.
3. Honor thy father and mother.
4. Thou shalt not kill.
5. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
6. Thou shalt not steal.
7. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
   9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
   10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods.

Protestant 10 Commandments:

1.I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy.
5. Honor thy father and mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
**10. Thou shalt not covet. **

Interesting, how these commandments are not the same. Protestants constantly judge Catholics for “removing the 2nd commandment and splitting the last commandment into two just so they’ll have ten. Because they worship images more than God.” How can we counter-refute that false claim?

The Catholic Church does not shy away from the commandment “Thou shalt not make any graven image”. Paragraphs 2129 – 2132 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church deals explicitly with this command.

2129 The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure. . . . " It is the absolutely transcendent God who revealed himself to Israel. “He is the all,” but at the same time “he is greater than all his works.” He is “the author of beauty.”

2130 Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.

2131 Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the veneration of icons - of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels, and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new “economy” of images.

2132 The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, “the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype,” and “whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it.” The honor paid to sacred images is a “respectful veneration,” not the adoration due to God alone:
Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.

 

[sirach2v4]

Somewhere you might find the actual explanation, that the Catholic numbering of the Ten Words is done purely for teaching purposes. Some make more of this than may be actually warranted. It’s better for serious study simply to read the scripture text,and not to sweat the numbering part.

If you look at both versions in Exodus and in Deuteronomy, one or both of them uses the words “the LORD thy God” in what the Jews traditionally number as the first five commandments.

I seem to recall that the scripture says that the tables of stone were written on both sides.

My Jewish commentary says that artistic depictions of the tablets with sort of a semi-circle or curve on the top of the tablets is purely artistic imagination – useful, perhaps, to give quick visual identification to what is being depicted.

These Jewish commentaries seem to give greater honor to the first five commandments (there are actually about 13 or 14 commands in the text of scripture) because they include those words (the Lord thy God). They like that this emphasizes respect for one’s parents in the group of commandments about respecting God, too.

If I recall correctly, the LONGEST commandment is the one about the Sabbath.

 

[patrick457]

In fact, in Hebrew all of them are known as the Ten Statements rather than the Ten Commandments.

“Ten Words.”

 

[chosen_people]

Catholic 10 Commandments:

1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
   2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
2. Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.
3. Honor thy father and mother.
4. Thou shalt not kill.
5. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
6. Thou shalt not steal.
7. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
   9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
   10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods.

Protestant 10 Commandments:

1.I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy.
5. Honor thy father and mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
**10. Thou shalt not covet. **

Interesting, how these commandments are not the same. Protestants constantly judge Catholics for “removing the 2nd commandment and splitting the last commandment into two just so they’ll have ten. Because they worship images more than God.” How can we counter-refute that false claim?

God and the Jews fundamentally changed the way all people regarded religion. Until the Jews, religion was something that dealt with man’s relationship to God. The Jews irrevocably changed that concept.For Jews religion dealt not only with man’s relationship to God but also man’s relationship to other people.

The second revolution was the connection between laws and commandments and God. The concept of laws was already well known. However, with God’s revelation to the entire Jewish nation at Sinai, we establish the concept that these laws and commandments are not merely rules to be followed but a Divine imperative.

If we understand those concepts we can understand the division of the ten commandments.The first five commandments (having faith in God’s existence, prohibition of idolatry, prohibition of vain oaths, the Sabbath and honoring parents [which in Judaism is equal to honoring God] - all deal with the relationship between man and God. The second five commandments (prohibition against murder,prohibition against adultery,prohibition against kidnapping [usually misunderstood to mean simple theft],prohibition against bearing false witness and prohibition against coveting) - all deal with relationships between people.

 

[Fr_of_Jazz]

Catholic 10 Commandments:

1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
   2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
2. Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.
3. Honor thy father and mother.
4. Thou shalt not kill.
5. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
6. Thou shalt not steal.
7. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
   9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
   10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods.

Protestant 10 Commandments:

1.I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy.
5. Honor thy father and mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
**10. Thou shalt not covet. **

Interesting, how these commandments are not the same. Protestants constantly judge Catholics for “removing the 2nd commandment and splitting the last commandment into two just so they’ll have ten. Because they worship images more than God.” How can we counter-refute that false claim?

The 10 Commandments are found in two separate passages in the Bible:

Ex 20:2-17 and Dt 5:6-21.

The importance of the 10 Commandments is shown by the fact that, unlike other parts of the Law given by God through Moses, they are written by God Himself on two stone tablets (Ex 24:12; 31:18; rewritten 34:1; Dt 4:13; 5:22; rewritten 10:2).

There is no numerical division of the Commandments in either passage above, however the total of ten is given in several places (Ex 34:28; Dt 4:13; 10:4).

Differences in enumeration of the 10 Commandments arise from differences in their formulation in Exodus as opposed to Deuteronomy. The single last commandment in Exodus (20:17) against “coveting” a neighbor’s possessions (included among which is his wife!) is divided into two in Deuteronomy (5:21) against “coveting” his wife and then “desiring” his possessions. The use of two different verbs in the Hebrew text and placing the wife first suggests two different commandments.

• The division used by Roman Catholics and Lutherans today draws on Deuteronomy and goes back to Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Augustine and was adopted by the Council of Trent.
(1) No false gods or idols. (2) No vain use of divine Name. (3) Sabbath.
(4) Parents. (5) Murder. (6) Adultery. (7) Theft. (8) False Witness. (9) Coveting wife.
(10) Coveting goods.]
In this arrangement the First Commandment groups the worship of false gods and false worship under a single class–the prohibition of idols being regarded as an application of the precept to adore one God. From a Roman Catholic point of view, it also seems as logical to separate the last two as to group the first two, for while one single object is aimed at under worship, two specifically different sins are forbidden under covetousness: if adultery and theft are two distinct types of moral wrong with two separate commandments, the same must be said of the desire to commit them.

• The division used by the Orthodox Churches and Protestant Denominations (excluding Lutherans) draws on Exodus and goes back to Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, Jerome, and the Greek Fathers.
(1) No false gods. (2) No idols. (3) No vain use of divine Name. (4) Sabbath. (5) Parents.
(6) Murder. (7) Adultery. (8) Theft. (9) False Witness. (10) Coveting wife and goods.]

• The division used by modern Jews draws on Exodus as well.
(1) I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
(2) No false gods or idols. (3) No vain use of divine Name. (4) Sabbath. (5) Parents. (6) Murder. (7) Adultery. (8) Theft. (9) False Witness. (10) Coveting wife and goods.]

You might note that (1) Lutherans use the same enumeration as RCs; and (2) the EOC, which uses religious images and even held an Ecumenical Council to defend it (Nicea II), uses the same enumeration as the majority of Protestants.