Jews speak of the 10 as the 10 Words rather than the Ten Commandments. The first word is “I am the Lord your God” and the second, “You shall no other gods before me.” The rest follow naturally, both those on coveting gathered into the 10th word. Their understanding is helpful in a number of […]
Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. This last commandment is a little troubling, not in its call for respecting other people’s personal property, but rather in what it includes on its list. I suspect all right thinking people […]
Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s house. If you were examining the commandments for the first time from a purely intellectual perspective, chances are you would notice that respect for personal property plays a primary role. One prohibits stealing. Depending how you number them, either two or a very lengthy one prohibits coveting your neighbor’s […]
Neither shall you steal… Down through the ages most people realized there were many different ways to steal. It can be done in our society by sticking a gun into someone’s ribs and demanding their money or by setting conditions in which a vulnerable person ends up owing you money. Both involve putting one of […]
Neither shall you commit adultery. The first task is to define what adultery is in our time and place; no easy task. It used to be having sex outside of marriage, the presumption being there was always the chance of impregnation so the responsible act was to give a promise of faithfulness before engaging in […]
Exodus and Deuteronomy: “Do not murder.” Martin Luther’s explanation: “We should fear and love God that we may not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every need.” Jesus’ comment: “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever […]
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. The questions I got about this one each year in ninth grade catechism class were “How […]
Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For 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 […]
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. The ancient Israelites took this so seriously that they did not even utter God’s name in fear that they might use it incorrectly. They would insert “Lord” instead of the […]
All Christians, all Jews, and even all Muslims agree the Ten Commandments are a basic statement of how to live according to God’s will. The disagreements come with how to codify these into specific laws. For instance, in our time you could argue all religious people are pro-life even though they do not agree on […]
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