As the children of Israel gathered at the bottom of Mount Sinai, God gave the 10 Commandments to Moses to give to the Israelites. The 10 Commandments is one of the most famous things about Judeo-Christian faith since even people outside this faith know a bit about it.
As the table below shows, depending on which branch of the Judeo Christian faith, there is a slight difference in which exactly are the 10 Commandments. But notice in the Bible verses itself, there is no mention of the "10 Commandments", that is just two words used to summarize the laws. The Bible verses just gives out the list of what God expects from His people. Hence no matter which denomination we are, we still see the same Word of God and should obey them in the same way.
One other thing I just noticed is that the first few of the commandments from:
I am your God.
You shall have no other God before me.
You shall not make any graven images.
You shall not take the name of God in vain.
You shall remember the Sabbath.
these were all explained in greater detail than the second half of the commandment list. In fact, it may be no wonder why God explains the first half in greater detail as they all are about how we humans should relate to God. God is teaching us the correct way to be in a relationship with them.
The second half of the list is of no less important as it governs how we should relate with each other in society. In fact most of our civil law covers the second half of the 10 Commandments. Although one can argue that Western society have similar laws because Western society were historically Christian societies, but this argument is not true because in most non Western societies, even in ancient times, the second half of the commandments are also embedded in their civil laws. Almost all societies would have laws against murder, adultery, stealing, etc.
So God is not out of touch with humanity. The second half of the commandments is to help us live in a good society while the first half helps us cultivate a relationship with our Lord and Creator.
| Commandment | Jewish (Talmudic)* | Anglican, Reformed, and other Christian | Orthodox | Catholic, Lutheran** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am the Lord your God | 1 | preface | 1 | 1 |
| You shall have no other gods before me | 2 | 1 | ||
| You shall not make for yourself an idol | 2 | 2 | ||
| You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Honor your father and mother | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| You shall not murder*** | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| You shall not commit adultery | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| You shall not steal**** | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| You shall not covet***** your neighbor's wife | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| You shall not covet***** anything that belongs to your neighbor | 10 |
Exodus 20
The Ten Commandments
1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 “ Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
The People Afraid of God’s Presence
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
The Law of the Altar
22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25 And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. 26 Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’
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