On the Ten Commandments

These commandments were given by the Lord of the universe in a loud voice, and with resounding thunder, much quaking, flames of fire. Clouds and lightning ran wild, the angels were confused, the heavens shook, and the earth trembled. The mountains moved, the waves of the sea shriveled, and the rivers were troubled. The sun, the moon and the stars…

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This commentary on the Ten Commandments is written as a Hebrew liturgical poem (piyyut) with longer explications strewn throughout. While the text was traditionally attributed to Se‘adya Ga’on, recent research has questioned that attribution due to its grammatical errors, style, and content. Another possible author is the little-known figure Eleazer ben Eliezer, who lived in the same period as Se‘adya. The text is read during the holiday of Shavuot among some Jewish communities from the Middle East.

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