The Ten Commandments

Exodus 19–20 (selections)

ca. 1200–332 BCE

About This Entry

In the Bible’s account, the laws that form the covenant between God and Israel are revealed at Mount Sinai, during the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. The first laws to be revealed at Sinai are the so-called Ten Commandments (devarim, more accurately translated as “words” or “statements”). Although Exodus 34:28 gives the number of statements as ten, the division between them is not clear, and different religious traditions enumerate them in different ways. Most Jewish sources consider Exodus 20:2, “I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage,” to be the first statement, regarded by some interpreters as a commandment to affirm God’s sovereignty. In contrast, most Christian sources (and some Jewish sources) consider Exodus 20:2–3 to be a prologue. Exodus 20:14, against coveting, may then be divided into two commandments, so that all traditions arrive at a total of ten. These different divisions of the commandments have also led to different verse numberings in different Bibles and different traditions for reading the passage in the synagogue.

The Ten Commandments are not the only laws in the Torah, or even the only laws delivered at Sinai (see The Term “Torah” and Its Meanings). In Jewish tradition, the term commandments (mitsvot) refers to all divine laws.

For the broader narrative context of this text, see At Sinai. The Ten Commandments also appear within the Prologue to Deuteronomy.

Chapter 19

¹On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt, on that very day, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. [ . . . ] ²Israel encamped there in front of the mountain, ³and Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel: ⁴‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. ⁵Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, ⁶but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

⁷Moses came and summoned the elders of the people and put before them all that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸All the people answered as one, saying, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the people’s words to the Lord. ⁹And the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.” [ . . . ]

¹⁶On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. [ . . . ]

¹⁸Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the Lord had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain^a trembled violently. ¹⁹The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. [ . . . ]

Chapter 20

¹God spoke all these words,^b saying:

²I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: ³You shall have no other gods besides Me.

⁴You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the Lord your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, ⁶but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷You shall not ^cswear falsely by^cthe name of the Lord your God; for the Lord will not clear one who swears falsely by His name.

⁸Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

¹²Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you.

¹³You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁴You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

¹⁵All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance. ¹⁶“You speak to us,” they said to Moses, “and we will obey; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” ¹⁷Moses answered the people, “Be not afraid; for God has come only in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be ever with you, so that you do not go astray.” ¹⁸So the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.

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