The Ten Commandments

2023-03-18

The phrase “ten commandments” appears three times in the Bible. What we consider the ten commandments are in Exodus 20:1-17 and reiterated in Deuteronomy 5:6-22. However, the first verse that has the phrase is this: “And he was there with the LORD 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” (Exodus 34:28).

This occasion happened after the golden calf, and the first set of tablets containing the commandments were broken by Moses. Some have argued that the preceding commands given in Exodus 34 are the real ten commandments or superseded the real commands. These are usually scorners and skeptics that are hunting for inconsistencies. However, the commands were just recorded in Exodus 20, and this time. After the golden calf, Moses “was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights,” therefore, much happened in that time, including the rewriting of the commandments by the finger of God.

The sayings of Exodus 20 are the ten commandments, for what else was said when this happened? “And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone” (Deuteronomy 4:11-13).

These events were referred to in the original context when the commands were given. “And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly” (Exodus 19:18). And again, “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:18-19).

When the second set of tables were given, therefore, the same commands as given before in Exodus 20 were given again, because we read this: “And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me” (Deuteronomy 10:4). And again, after the second reading of the commandments, “And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me” (Deuteronomy 5:22).

Read more about each of the Ten Commandments here.