Deuteronomy 5: The ten commandments redux

Deuteronomy 5: The Ten Commandments / Moses the Mediator of God's Will

The ten commandments first appeared in Exodus 20. Below is the second version given by Moses, a reiteration of the commandments given at Horeb directly to the people. The commandments remain the same, but the wording is different. Moses is careful to state that this is a new covenant for the people entering the promised land, separate from the covenant of land and progeny given to the ancestors. Here that covenant is fulfilled and a new covenant begins, one that is requisite on the Israelites' strict obedience to God.

The Ten Commandments: Deuteronomy 5.1-21

One: No other Gods
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me."

Two: No idols
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments."

[Given God's statement on monotheism that appeared in yesterday's reading, it is no surprise that this commandment takes up so much space. The author here is attempting to differentiate the religious readers of his text from outsiders who do not follow YHWH exclusively. For the biblical author, one of the most important aspects of God was that God could not be portrayed in an idol and worshipped; God is too mighty to be understood in those simple terms.

Actually, non-Israelites probably recognized that the idols did not represent Gods, but were a means of channeling thoughts and prayers to God. In the same way that Catholics might pray through the Virgin Mary, these people might have prayed through their idols to reach their gods. For more on this, check out A History of God by Karen Armstrong.

In any case, YHWH is to be worshipped by the Israelites as their only God, and no image was to be made in an attempt to define "him" (even that pronoun in a way defines God!).]

Three: Don't misuse the Lord's name
"You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name."

Four: Observe the sabbath
"Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day."

[The sabbath seems to be a metaphor for remembering God in a time of work. Perhaps God is not in the mind of those who are working - therefore a day is established exclusively for God. It might even get more complicated. In Egypt the Israelites were enslaved - and enslavement or any life at all outside of the promised land in the bible represents a separation from God. Therefore work is done on the days it is needed, but on the sabbath the people return to God entirely; they are no longer enslaved and may rest in the Lord. Every seven days comes a respite from labor that parallels salvation from slavery.]

Five: Honor your mother and father
"Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."

Six: Don't Kill
"You shall not murder."

Seven: Don't commit adultery
"Neither shall you commit adultery."

Eight: Don't steal
"Neither shall you steal."

Nine: Don't lie
"Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor."

Ten: Don't Covet
"Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Moses the Mediator of God's Will: Deuteronomy 5.22-33
The people are afraid upon hearing the word of the Lord. Who has hear the word of God an lived? The heads of the tribes and the elders approach Moses and express their fear that the fire from the mountain should consume them and they should all die. Therefore they tell Moses to speak to the Lord himself, so that the congregation will not perish.

The Lord appreciates the sentiment of the people, but laments the fact that it will not always be this way:

"If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever!"
(Deut. 5.29)

But it will not be this way, as we shall see. (And I hope you are seeing that Deuteronomy is very much more prophetic than the previous books!)

Moses stays with God on the mountain and receives the commandments of the Lord, which we will begin to explore tomorrow.