BSN: The Ten Commandments

Here are the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17):

  1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
  2. You shall not make for yourself an idol…
  3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…
  4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy…
  5. Honor your father and your mother…
  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…

The Ten Commandments are listed in Ex 20 and Dt 5. The differences between the two lists are slight; probably the most notable is in the 4th commandment (keeping the Sabbath). The Exodus version uses the commandment to remember creation week, while the Deuteronomy version remembers the redemption from slavery in Egypt that the Israelites experienced. This is, of course, not a contradiction as some would like to say, but rather a demonstration of the multi-faceted nature of truth. In this case, there could certainly be more than one reason – or even more than two – to have a Sabbath day.

Beyond the listings in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, the Ten Commandments, whether in whole or in part, are thereafter mentioned throughout the Scriptures, usually not by that name but by reference to one or more of them in, among other places:

  • The phrase “The Ten Commandments” is used three times – Ex 34:28; Dt 4:13; 10:4 e
  • Rom 13 and Jas 2 as a way of saying they are summarized by the commandment to love one’s neighbor.
  • Jer 7 and Rom 2 each reference several examples
  • Mt 15, Mk 7, and Eph 6 reference the commandment to honor parents
  • Rom 7 references not coveting.
  • The account of the rich young ruler includes several (Mt 19:16-30; Mk 10:17-31; Lk 18:18-30
  • There are many other references to the Ten Commandments in the Bible, too numerous to mention here. Most of these references explicit mention a subset of the ten, sometimes only one. But such partial references are either alluding to the whole or else inviting inference.

The Ten Commandments According to Jesus (a short book)

BSN: Commandments and Promises

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