The Ten Commandments

See: Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4, the decalogue

The Ten Commandments are a summary of the immutable moral law. These commandments were first given in their written form to the people of Israel when they were encamped at Sinai, about fifty days after they came out of Egypt (Ex. 19:10-25).

They were written by the finger of God on two tablets (tables) of stone. The first tablets were broken by Moses when he brought them down from the mount (32:19), being thrown by him on the ground. At the command of God he took up into the mount two other tablets, and God wrote on them "the words that were on the first tables" (34:1). These tablets were afterwards placed in the ark of the covenant (Deut. 10:5; 1 Kings 8:9). Their subsequent history is unknown. They are as a whole called "the covenant" (Deut. 4:13), and "the tables of the covenant" (9:9,11; Heb. 9:4), and "the testimony."

They are obviously "ten" in number, but their division is not fixed, hence different methods of numbering them have been adopted.

1. The Jews make the "Preface" one of the commandments, and then combine the first and second.

2. The Roman Catholics and Lutherans combine the first and second and divide the tenth into two. The Jews and Josephus divide them equally.

3. The Lutherans and Roman Catholics refer three commandments to the first table and seven to the second.

4. The Greek and Reformed Churches refer four to the first and six to the second table.

5. The Samaritans add to the second that Gerizim is the mount of worship.

See...

• The decalogue
• Law
• List of the Commandments and a summary of the story of the Ten Commandments
• Am I Good Enough to Go to Heaven? Have you kept each of the Ten Commandments?
• What does God expect of me?
• Law
• Coloring pages available: On-line coloring and printable versions.