THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

According to all the Hebrew records, the covenant at Sinai was
embodied in a divinely given Decalogue, or a set of ten short
commands, which could be counted off on the ten fingers. Two
Decalogues are given in Exodus, as coming from Moses at Sinai. One is
in Exodus 34. 17-28. The other is the well-known Decalogue in Exodus
20. The former has to do largely with sacrifices and ritual
observances. The latter, with its stern demands for right conduct
toward one's fellow men, and for the worship of Jehovah rather than
idols, expresses well the new moral and religious impulses which came
to the Hebrews under the leadership of their first great deliverer.

In its original form the Decalogue probably read something as follows:

=Thou shalt have no other gods before me.=
=Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven (or molten) image.=
=Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain.=
=Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.=
=Honor thy father and thy mother.=
=Thou shalt not kill.=
=Thou shalt not commit adultery.=
=Thou shalt not steal.=
=Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.=
=Thou shalt not covet.=


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