Saturday, June 11, 2022

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments According to Jews

  1. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
  2. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
  3. You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished 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 of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
  5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives 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 slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The Ten Commandments According to Roman Catholics and Lutherans

  1. I am Yahweh 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 an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
  2. You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
  3. 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 of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
  4. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
  5. You shall not murder.
  6. You shall not commit adultery.
  7. You shall not steal.
  8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
  10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The Ten Commandments According to Greek Orthodox, Protestant Reformers, Baptists, and Other Evangelicals

  1. I am Yahweh 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.
  2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
  3. You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished 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 of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
  5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives 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 slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

As you can see, commandments 3 through 10 are the same between the Jews and the Reformers, Baptists, and other Protestants. Where the commandments differ immensely is with the Catholics and Lutherans. Apparently they lack the cognitive capacity to realize that 9 and 10 for them are the exact same commandment—coveting. They did not "remove" a commandment, as certain individuals, like Ray Comfort, tend to accuse them of; it exists in the same manner as for the Jews. What they did do was to deliberately sever a single commandment—coveting—into two, because otherwise they would only have 9. While the order for the Reformers, Baptists, and other Protestants makes the most sense (because, let’s face it, the first commandment for Jews is not really a command), nevertheless we do not seem to know what the actual order is. If there is something in the Hebrew text that lets us know, I look forward to hearing from someone knowledgeable in Hebrew that can enlighten me with it. You can find these commandments in Exodus 20:15 and Deuteronomy 5:11.