Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, is a list of religious and moral imperatives which, according to the Bible, was spoken by YHWH to Moses on Mount Sinai and engraved on two stone tablets. They feature prominently in Judaism and Christianity. In Biblical Hebrew they are termed Aseret ha-Dvarîm עשרת הדברים, and in Rabbinical Hebrew Aseret ha-Dibrot עשרת הדברות both translatable as "The Ten Utterances". The name decalogue is derived from the Greek name δέκα λόγοι or dekalogoi ("Ten Speeches") found in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name.

10 Commandments or more?

While Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism all agree that the Bible lists the ten commandments in chapter 20 of the book of Exodus, that passage contains more than ten imperative statements. Reflecting this, the Hebrew term for them translates as "the Ten Utterances" or "the Ten Statements", as Jewish law sees each imperative as representing a separate commandment, totalling 14 or 15 in all. (See Jewish understanding below). Some scholars also believe that there may have been at one time more than 10 commandments, but that these additional edicts have been lost over millennia.

Related Topics:
Judaism - Catholicism - Protestantism - Bible - Exodus - Jewish law - Commandment - Jewish understanding

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