Deuteronomy 5:1-21

The Ten Commandments as Given on Sinai

v. 1. Add Moses called all Israel and said unto them, he intended his voice to reach as many as possible and to make the announcement as impressive as possible, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep and do them, watch carefully to perform them. After this brief introduction, Moses immediately launches forth in the repetition of the Decalogue as it was given by the Lord on Mount Sinai, Exodus 20:2-Esther :.

v. 2. The Lord, our God, made a covenant with us in Horeb, in the third month after their departure out of Egypt.

v. 3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, with the patriarchs, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. The covenant which the Lord made with Israel as a nation differed from those made with Noah and Abraham, especially as to the extent and inclusiveness of the obligations imposed.

v. 4. The Lord talked with you face to face, as one Person might talk with another, but not in visible form, in the mount out of the midst of the fire, Exodus 20:22,

v. 5. (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, Exodus 20:21, in the capacity of mediator, to show you the word of the Lord, that is, to make it known to them; for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, Exodus 20:18, and went not up into the mount,) saying,

v. 6. I am the Lord, thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. There is here a reminder both of the fact that they were a peculiar people to the Lord and that a typical part of His redemptive work had been accomplished in delivering them out of their position as slaves.

v. 7. Thou shalt have none other gods before Me, either over and above Him, or by His side, or beneath Him, as subordinate gods; He is the one and only God.

v. 8. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, a carved or hewn picture or statue of wood, stone, or metal, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth, Deuteronomy 4:15-Esther :.

v. 9. Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for that is the real point of the prohibition, the prevention of idolatry; for I, the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, if the children follow their sinful parents in their iniquity, in their wicked behavior,

v. 10. and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep my commandments, since it pleases the Lord to make His grace and mercy known in much more abundant measure than His wrath and justice. The love toward God is a fruit of faith, itself a gift of God, and this love shows itself in keeping His commandments.

v. 11. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain, not use it in a foolish, fruitless manner; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. Such a person cannot plead innocence; his transgression will invariably be charged to his account and will be demanded of him with a sharp reckoning.

v. 12. Keep the Sabbath-day to sanctify it, observe it as a day set apart for the worship of Jehovah, as the Lord, thy God, hath commanded thee.

v. 13. Six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work;

v. 14. but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, that thy man-servant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. Cf Exodus 20:8-1 Kings :.

v. 15. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord, thy God, brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm, an expression denoting the exercise of God's almighty power; therefore the Lord, thy God, commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day. The fact that Israel was the redeemed people of God and thus distinguished by Him above all nations was to be brought out in their Sabbath observance. The Sabbath-day, as a day of rest by God's command, has been abrogated in the New Testament, and we Christians do not transfer to any other day the special ceremonial prohibitions which attached to the Sabbath of old. Cf Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Galatians 4:9-1 Kings :; Colossians 2:16-Esther :. But the principle of the commandment is in force today as it ever was. It has been most succinctly and successfully stated by Luther: "We should fear and love God that we may not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it. "

v. 16. Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord, thy God, hath commanded thee, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee. The New Testament form of this commandment is given by Paul, Ephesians 6:2-Leviticus :.

v. 17. Thou shalt not kill.

v. 18. Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

v. 19. Neither shalt thou steal.

v. 20. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.

v. 21. Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor's house, his field, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbor's. The fact that the last commandment, or the last two commandments, differ slightly in form from the corresponding precepts in Exodus 20:17, is due to the special object in view at this point, when Israel was about to enter upon its possessions. The Law is in force to the end of time. It assists the regenerate in overcoming the temptations of the flesh, and serves as a rule and guide in showing them the holy will of God. It leads the way in sanctification.