THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (PART 1)

I have two books written by a Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. The two books are: JEWISH LITERACY and BIBLICAL LITERACY. The books tell about Jewish history and their religion. In one section, he talks about the ten commandments. I was surprised to see the differences between the English and the Jewish versions.

Here are the Jewish version of the ten commandments according to Rabbi Telushkin:

1. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage.
2. You shall have no other gods besides Me.
3. You shall not carry the Lord your God's name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to make it holy.
5. Honor you father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not kill.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against you neighbor.
10. You shall not covet you neighbor's house; you shall not covet you neighbor's wife, or...anything that is your neighbor's.

Notice how the first four commandments are different than our English versions? Let's take them one at a time, shall we?

1. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage.

Rabbi Telushkin states this: "It is interesting that the First "Commandment" seems to be a statement, not a commandment. That is probably why, in Hebrew, these words are called Aseret ha-Dibrot, the Ten Statements, and not Aseret ha-Mitzvot, the Ten Commandments."

When the Bible uses the phrase "The Ten Commandments" (KJV) in Exodus and Deuteronomy, it uses a Hebrew word that means "speech, word, speaking, thing" (Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew definitions)

What is interesting to me is the verse in Deuteronomy 4:13.

(Deuteronomy 4:13-32) And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

The word "commanded" is a different Hebrew word and it means "to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order". So, it makes sense to call these ten statements "The Ten Commandments" because God commanded us to keep them!

According to Telushkin, "most Jewish authorities" believe that the first statement "commands a belief in God". 

The second commandment in the Jewish version is: 

 2. You shall have no other gods besides Me.

Notice how the English commandment "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" is absent from the Jewish version? The commandments "You shall have no other gods besides me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" are viewed as one commandment to a Jew. Why?
Because in Hebrew "graven image" actually means "idol". An idol is something that you worship. So, if you have an idol, you have another god besides the one true God.

The third commandment is:

3. You shall not carry the Lord your God's name in vain.

I thought it was interesting that it says "carry", instead of  "take". According to Telushkin it means: "don't use God as your justification in selfish causes".

I also found it intersting that Telsushkin says that the last half of this commandment is translated, "for the Lord God will not forgive him who carries His name in vain". He contiunes, "When a person commits an evil act, he discredits himself. But when a religious person commits an evil act in the name of God, he or she descredits God as well. And since God relies on religious people to bring knowledge of Him into the world, He pronounces this sin unpardonable."

I tried to think of somenoe in the Bible that committed an evil act in God's name and was forgiven for it. The only one I could think of was Paul. He thought he "ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth."(Acts 26:9). Now whether he was actually doing this in God's name or just mistaking it for God's will might be debatable.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we shall talk about the Sabbath day.
God Bless,
Douglas