reads "_rabbim_." But a far more complete idea of the variations of text
and signification may be obtained from a comparison of the text of the
Decalogue as it appears in the received version in the sixth chapter of
Deuteronomy with that contained in the fragments so far as they have yet
been deciphered. The version of the fragments, literally rendered, runs
as follows:

"I am God, thy God, which liberated thee from the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage. Ye shall have no other gods. Ye shall not make to
yourselves any graven image, nor any likeness that is in heaven above or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth.
Ye shall not bow down to them nor serve them. I am God, your God.
Sanctify ... in six days I have made the heaven and the earth, and all
that is therein, and rested on the seventh day, therefore rest thou
also, thou and thy cattle and all that thou hast: I am God, thy God.
Honor thy father and thy mother ...: I am God, thy God. Thou shall not
kill the person of thy brother: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt not commit
adultery with the wife of thy neighbor: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt
not steal the property of thy brother: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt not
swear by my name falsely, for I visit the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who take
my name in vain: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy brother: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt not covet the wife
... or his manservant, or his maidservant, or anything that is his: I am
God, thy God. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: I am God,
thy God. These ten words (or commandments) God spake."

Several points may be noted in this version. The singular refrain "I
am God, thy God"--which does not appear at all in the received
version--occurs ten times, being, as it were, a solemn ratification of