The first occurrence of the phrase Ten Commandments or Ten Words is in Exodus 34:28. In this passage the covenant of Exodus 24:1-8 is renewed after the incident of the Golden Calves. If we read Exodus 34 it is fairly clear that the Ten Commandments here refer to the ritual laws given in this chapter and not to the Laws in Exodus 20 which are generally seen as THE Ten Commandments.
The phrase is agan seen in Deut. 4:13 and 10:4 where they appear to refer to the traditional Ten Commandments as we know it.
So, it would appear that there were other codes of ten commands apart from the moral code of Exodus 20 and Deut. 5, but as per Jewish tradition, these passages were seen as THE Ten Commandments.
But if we see Exodus 20:1-17 carefully we find 10 "Thou shalt not" statements and 2 "thou shall" statements. The 2 Thou shall is not worded like that but says - observe the swabbath, and honout your father and mother. So how do we group them to get 10 commands?
Usually 17a and 17b are combined to give you one command and vs 4 and 5 are combined to give you one command.
But if we read vs 3, 4 and 5 as three separate commands they read very differently from our normal understanding.
vs 3 - no other gods.
vs 4 - no images - i.e. no art of any kind
vs 5 - no bowing down to "them"
If we combine 4 and 5 it means no making images that you bow down to.
If we combine verses 3,4 and 5 it means no making of other gods and bowing down to them - which is the interpretation of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions.
Personally I find the traditional combination of the Protestant church the most satisfying, and this I believe is the Jewish tradition.
The phrase is agan seen in Deut. 4:13 and 10:4 where they appear to refer to the traditional Ten Commandments as we know it.
So, it would appear that there were other codes of ten commands apart from the moral code of Exodus 20 and Deut. 5, but as per Jewish tradition, these passages were seen as THE Ten Commandments.
But if we see Exodus 20:1-17 carefully we find 10 "Thou shalt not" statements and 2 "thou shall" statements. The 2 Thou shall is not worded like that but says - observe the swabbath, and honout your father and mother. So how do we group them to get 10 commands?
Usually 17a and 17b are combined to give you one command and vs 4 and 5 are combined to give you one command.
But if we read vs 3, 4 and 5 as three separate commands they read very differently from our normal understanding.
vs 3 - no other gods.
vs 4 - no images - i.e. no art of any kind
vs 5 - no bowing down to "them"
If we combine 4 and 5 it means no making images that you bow down to.
If we combine verses 3,4 and 5 it means no making of other gods and bowing down to them - which is the interpretation of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions.
Personally I find the traditional combination of the Protestant church the most satisfying, and this I believe is the Jewish tradition.
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