Exodus 20, The Ten Words

The Israelites are camped at Mt. Sinai.  God has a Covenant code for the people of Israel.  This code begins by emphasizing the particular role of YHWH as their God.  It then goes on to describe how His People should live out that special position as a nation in the Ancient Near East. 

The beginning of this code has the Decalogue, that is, the Ten Words.  Our modern terms for this are the "Ten Commandments".

Exodus 20: 1-7, Only one God!

And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

    

"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Those who follow YHWH agree that YHWH is first among all divine beings. Only YHWH, the Creator of Genesis 1, is worthy of worship.  Do not play with other gods; do not consider other divinities.

We might observe that these commandments are not numbered.  The paragraph above comes across as a single commandment although it is commonly broken up into three.

Imes, in her class on Exodus, argues that verse 7, often translated, "You shall not take the name of the LORD in vain..." most likely describes how the Israelites, as God's people, under His Name, are to model Him.  When they are (figuratively) tattooed with His name on their foreheads and sleeves and walk among the other nations, people should look at them at say, "They have a great God!" Their actions should not drag YHWH's name into the dirt.  This concept -- how the Israelites actions praise or abuse the name (reputation) of YHWH -- will be repeated throughout the Old Testament and will be particularly clear in the prophetical books.

We are not to misrepresent YHWH.  That is a strong statement.

With these two/three commandments on putting YHWH first, we now have a transitional commandment, one where our worship of YHWH translates to a concrete social practice.

Exodus 20: 8-11, Set aside the Sabbath

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.    

    

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The seventh day of the week is set aside for worship and to refrain from labor.  That seventh day emphasizes one's covenant relation with the God of Creation and breaks up the tedious, earthly demands on life. The Sabbath Rest also emphasizes the completeness and purposefulness of God's creative acts.

If we are committed to representing YHWH and His Name, then this should show up in how we treat our neighbors. The next commandments deal with our interactions with the people around us.

Exodus 20: 12, Honor your parents

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

 

This is an interesting commandment.  In the patriarchal society of the day, one notes that both husband and wife are given equal billing here.  The word "honor" here is much deeper and more complex than mere obedience.  The Hebrew word for "honor" (kaw-bad') is the same word used to describe Pharaoh's heart in Exodus 8:15.  There the word is usually translated "hardened".  The best interpretation of kaw-bad is to be heavy; Pharaoh made his heart heavy and unyielding but we are to treat our parents as "heavy", that is, royal, valuable.

If one pays attention to one's parents and values them, then in general, on average, one's lifespan should be longer than otherwise!

Exodus 20: 13, Murder   

"You shall not murder.

    

This commandment, in other places, is expanded to be a prohibition against acting violently out of hatred towards another.

Exodus 20: 14, Adultery   

"You shall not commit adultery.

    

To adulterate something is to water it down.  Sex with someone other than your spouse waters down and weakens that important bond. In the shadows of Creation, sex is given as a good thing that bonds husband and wife together (Genesis 2: 23-25), creates order and fruitfulness within the Covenant plans for Israel.

Later prophets will use "adultery" as a metaphor for idolatry, as people turn from their covenant with YHWH to worship other gods.

Exodus 20: 15, Theft  

"You shall not steal.

    

Theft is a crime in every society, but as Deuteronomy expands on these commandments, we will see that there are all sorts of ways one might "steal" from another, see for example Deuteronomy 25:13-16 where deception and fraud are identified.

Exodus 20: 16, Lying    

"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

    

Lying about a neighbor destroys their reputation and is a type of theft, whether in the courts or more casually.  Like the other commandments, this is expanded on in Deuteronomy. In New Testament times, Christians were told not to gossip or slander others (see, for example, Paul's concerns about the church in Corinth in II Corinthians 12: 20).  Gossip is a casual form of false testimony.  In my culture and time, gossip and "giving false witness" is pandemic on social media, as I, and my Facebook friends, casually pass on falsehood with a click of a mouse.

Exodus 20: 17, Covetousness  

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

This last commandment might be thought of as a summary of the past four.  Covetousness is an internal heart issue, not easily detectible by others. But covetous thoughts lead to hatred, theft, adultery and lying. 

These commandments will be expanded in various ways throughout the rest of the Torah, especially in the book of Deuteronomy.

Exodus 20: 18-21, Thunder, lightning and thick darkness

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."

    

Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."

    

The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

The One who controls the weather makes it clear to the people His power.

Exodus 20: 22-26, Reminder, NO OTHER GODS

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: `You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

    

"`Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. 

If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'

Again, there are no other gods, no one is close to being as almighty and holy as YHWH.  As in verse 7, there is an emphasis on the honor of YHWH's name.

There are a number of restrictions on not defiling the altar, including not allowing one's "nakedness" to be exposed to it! The altar must be treated with respect.