The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Hebrew: עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת, Aseret ha’Dibrot), also known as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity.
The commandments include instructions and prohibitions, such as: Worship only God, honour your parents, keep the sabbath day holy, and prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, theft, dishonesty, and coveting.
The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Hebrew Bible, in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. As described in the holy scriptures, the Ten Commandments were written by the finger of Adonai.
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- Thou shalt have no other gods before me
- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
- Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
- Honour thy father and thy mother
- Thou shalt not murder
- Thou shalt not commit adultery
- Thou shalt not steal
- Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
- Thou shalt not covet (neighbour’s wife, slaves, animals, or anything else)
In both Judaism and Christianity, the Ten Commandments form the basis of the law, stating God’s universal and timeless standard of right and wrong.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tablets of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.”
— Exodus 24:12–13
Unlike the the 613 Commandments in the Torah containing regulations, dietary laws, and now unobservable rituals to be performed by priests in the Holy Temple, Jewish and Christian traditions considers the Ten Commandments the theological basis for the rest of the commandments.
“Adonai gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God. Moreover, on them were all the words that Adonai had spoken with you on the mountain from the midst of the fire, on the day of the assembly.”
– Deuteronomy 9:10
We believe and hold that the Ten Commandments have divine authority and continue to be valid. The Apostolic Constitutions, which implore believers to “always remember the ten commands of God,” reveal the importance of the Decalogue in the early church. We believe that human history has adopted a summary of God’s laws as the standard of behaviour. We strive to keep it a central part of life and worship.
Shalom!