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From Leviticus Chapter 19.
This is the "P" (or priestly) author's version of the Decalogue. Biblical scholars such as Richard Friedman say it was written after 722 B.C.E. Here Decalogue commandments are mixed with many other regulations, as in Exodus 34.
Among prohibitions against practicing witchcraft, cutting one's hair and having tattoos, one finds these rules: "You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths....Do not turn to idols....You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another....you shall not swear falsely by my name....You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal....You shall not render an unjust judgment...You shall not go around as a slanderer." One also finds two Golden Rule-like commandments: "...you shall love your neighbor as yourself" and "The stranger...you shall love him as yourself."
From Deuteronomy Chapter 5, This likely was the
last-written version of the Decalogue in the
Jewish Bible.
Moses convened all Israel, and said to
them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and
ordinances that I am addressing to you
today; you shall learn them and observe them
diligently. 2) The LORD our God made a covenant
with us at Horeb. 3) Not with our ancestors did
the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who
are all of us here alive today . 4) The LORD
spoke with you face to face at the mountain,
out of the fire. 5) At that time I was standing
between the LORD and you to declare to you the
words of the LORD; for you were afraid because
of the fire and did not go up the mountain.)
And he said:
6) I am the LORD your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of slavery; 7) you shall have no other gods
before me.
8) 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. 9) 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 10) but
showing steadfast love to the thousandth
generation of those who love me and keep my
commandments.
11) 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.
12) Observe the sabbath day and keep it
holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13)
Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
14) 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. 15) 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.
16) 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.
17) You shall not murder.
18) Neither shall you commit adultery.
19) Neither shall you steal.
20) Neither shall you bear false
witness against your neighbor.
21) 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. 22)These words
the LORD spoke with a loud voice to your whole
assembly at
the mountain, out of the fire, the cloud, and
the thick darkness, and he adds no more. He
wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them
to me.
New Testament Decalogue References.
Now consider the New Testament part of the Christian Bible. The Decalogue is repeatedly commented upon, and again the Commandments are reinterpreted. Here are several selections from the Gospel of Matthew and one from Romans:
In Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 21-22 and 27-29
Jesus says:
21) "You have heard that it was said to those
of ancient times, 'You should not murder'; and
whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.
22) But I say to you that if you are angry with
a brother or sister, you will be liable to
judgment; and if you insult a brother or
sister, you will be liable to the council; and
if you say, 'You fool' you will be liable to
the hell of fire."
27) "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery. 28) But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29) If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
The prohibitions against murder, adultery, stealing, and lying are found in Matthew, Chapter 19. After the listing, in verse 19 Jesus is presented as saying "Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
In Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 36-40 one reads:
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is
the greatest?" [Jesus] said to
him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind.' This is the greatest and
the first commandment. And a second is like it,
'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On
these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets."
In Romans, Chapter 13, verses 9-10 Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) says: The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
In these New Testament references punishments have changed. No longer are children, grandchildren and great grandchildren being rewarded and punished by Yahweh for what their forefather did. Instead, the person's soul is held accountable in an afterlife. This change from earthly punishments to soul-concepts began during the Captivity period and continued when, later, the Greeks controlled the entire area.
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