The Ten Words (Commandments)

Part I

Ten words, ten commandments

Exodus 34:28

And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights he did neither eat bread nor drink water And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant the ten commandments

As the verse box shows it. Cards 21 and 22 are “ten” and “the words.” The ASV prints “the ten commandments.”

Open Exodus 34:28

In Hebrew they are “the ten words.” Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13 and Deuteronomy 10:4 use this phrase. English Bibles print “the ten commandments.”
The Hebrew word for a commandment is mitzvah (plural mitzvot). In Exodus 20:6 it is card 6, “my commandments.”
They are given twice: in Exodus 20:1–17 and in Deuteronomy 5:6–21.

tenExodus 34:28, card 21

עֲשֶׂ֖רֶתah-SEH-ret

ten

the … commandmentsExodus 34:28, card 22

הַדְּבָרִֽיםhah-deh-vah-REEM

the / word

my commandmentsExodus 20:6, card 6

מִצְוֺתָֽיmee-tsoh-TAI

commandment / my

Part II

The text: Exodus 20:1–17

American Standard Version, as the verse boxes show it.

1	And God spake all these words saying
2	I am Jehovah thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage
3	Thou shalt have no other gods before me
4	Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image nor 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
5	thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them nor serve them for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me
6	and showing lovingkindness unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments
7	Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain
8	Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy
9	Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work
10	but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy man servant nor thy maid servant nor thy cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates
11	for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it
12	Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee
13	Thou shalt not kill
14	Thou shalt not commit adultery
15	Thou shalt not steal
16	Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
17	Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife nor his man servant nor his maid servant nor his ox nor his ass nor anything that is thy neighbor’s

Open Exodus 20 Open Deuteronomy 5:6

Part III

How they are counted

The Bible says there are ten, but does not number them. Three ways of counting are used.

Verse	Subject	Jewish	Catholic and Lutheran	Orthodox, Reformed and most other Protestant
20:2	“I am Jehovah thy God…”	1	1	Opening words
20:3	No other gods	2	1	1
20:4–6	No graven image	2	1	2
20:7	The name not taken in vain	3	2	3
20:8–11	The sabbath day	4	3	4
20:12	Father and mother	5	4	5
20:13	Kill	6	5	6
20:14	Adultery	7	6	7
20:15	Steal	8	7	8
20:16	False witness	9	8	9
20:17	Covet the neighbor’s house	10	9 or 10	10
20:17	Covet the neighbor’s wife and the rest	10	9 or 10	10

Jewish counting makes verse 2 the first word, and joins “no other gods” with “no graven image” as the second.
Catholic and Lutheran counting joins verses 3 to 6 as the first, and splits verse 17 into two. Catholic lists follow Deuteronomy 5:21, which puts the wife first. Lutheran lists follow the order in Exodus.
Orthodox, Reformed and most other Protestant counting treats verse 2 as an opening, makes verse 3 the first, and verses 4 to 6 the second.

Sources: Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), “Decalogue”; Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), “Commandments of God.”