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Sample Lesson
Student Text

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.

Student Text continues on

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