Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments were given to Israel shortly after their escape from slavery in Egypt (probably in the thirteenth-century BC). It was Moses who brought them down from the heights of Mount Sinai, where he would go to speak with God. They were inscribed upon stone tablets, and kept in the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ten Commandments.
THOU shalt have no other gods before me.*
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,* or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: 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; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.* Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.*
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
* The Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, after he brought the Israelites up out of Egypt. See The Story of Moses. The list is given twice in the Bible, once in Exodus 20:3-17, which is the version given here, and once in Deuteronomy 5:7-21.
* This does not rule out secular or indeed religious art; elsewhere in the Old Testament, Israel is explicitly commanded to make images to adorn the Temple at Jerusalem, including plants, animals and even human and angelic figures, though images of God himself have always been absolutely ruled out. Failure to appreciate these distinctions has caused much grief and suffering over the centuries. See The Restoration of the Icons, and our posts tagged History of Icons.
* Jesus reminded Israel that the Sabbath rest must not itself become a burden: see Mark 2:23-28.
* Literally, ‘thou shalt do no murder’.