Exodus 20:1-7 – How to Count to Ten
How do you count to ten? We already found out how to count to 70 in our very first Cutting Room Floor post. But counting to 10 can be just as tricky.
We know that in Exodus 20 we find the 10 Commandments (or 10 Words). We know there are 10 because the Bible tells us so, albeit in other parts (Ex 34:28, Deut 4:13, 10:4). But did you know that different religious traditions have counted to 10 in different ways?
Here’s a chart that shows the breakdown of traditional ways to number the 10 Commandments:
Verse
Protestant
Jewish
Catholic
20:2
Intro/Heading
Command #1
Intro/Heading
20:3
Command #1
Command #2
Command #1
20:4-6
Command #2
20:7
Command #3
Command #3
Command #2
20:8-11
Command #4
Command #4
Command #3
20:12
Command #5
Command #5
Command #4
20:13
Command #6
Command #6
Command #5
20:14
Command #7
Command #7
Command #6
20:15
Command #8
Command #8
Command #7
20:16
Command #9
Command #9
Command #8
20:17a
Command #10
Command #10
Command #9
20:17b
Command #10
The major differences between traditional ways of counting the 10 are found in the first few and last verses. Jewish numbering sees verse 2 as the first command: “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” They then combine verses 3-6 as the second command, seeing the “gods” of verse 3 as the same prohibition as the “idols” of verses 4-6 (or rather, verses 4-6 is an explanation or elaboration of the same but more generalized command in verse 3).
The Jews have not convinced me. Though I affirm the importance of verse 2, there is no “command” here. Instead, it is a statement about Yahweh and what He has done for Israel. The 10 Commandments should be understood in the context of this redemption.
Catholics typically agree with Protestants that verse 2 is not a command, but instead a heading to the commands (note that some actually combine verses 2-6 as the first commandment instead of separating verse 2 as a heading), but they then agree with Jews by seeing verses 3-6 together as a single command. To get to 10, they then must divide up verse 17 into two commandments, the first (or 9th command) being “Don’t covet they neighbor’s wife” and the second being “Don’t covey they neighbor’s goods.” So the Catholic has to do some strange things to verse 17 to get it to be two clear-cut commands (in ESV):
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house – Verse 17a = Commandment #10
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife – Verse 17b = Commandment #9
Or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s – Verse 17c = Commandment #10
Do you see why this setup is a bit strange? You not only have to find Commandment #9 in the middle of the verse, but you have the 10th Commandment broken into two pieces, with 9 in the middle, like a Commandment Sandwich!
It doesn’t work. I agree that coveting a house is more similar to coveting other physical possessions that are your neighbor’s more than it is similar to coveting your neighbor’s wife. But this does not mean that we ought to separate these commandments. Wouldn’t it be simpler to simply say that “Don’t covet” is the entire thrust of verse 17? Did Moses really intend for verse 17 to be interpreted as two separate and unique commands, with the middle part of the verse being one command, and the first and last part being another? Hardly likely.
So I stand by our traditional Protestant interpretation.
One more note of interest: commentator William Propp notes in his second volume on Exodus that if we combined the three most prevalent views represented here, we would actually have twelve commandments – a Dodecalogue (instead of a Decalogue) (Propp 303), which ultimately gives us one command per tribe of Israel.
Intriguing though that thought is, especially in relation to the twelve tribes, it is clear that the Bible sees the commands numbered as ten, even though some would say that we aren’t positive how we count to ten.
(Note though that liberal commentators like Propp wouldn’t necessarily see Exodus 20 being written by the same hand at the same time as the parallel passages in Deuteronomy or even Exodus 34:28. To them, these passages were written in a different time period by a different person under different circumstances. But that’s another discussion for another day. Simply put, I believe wholeheartedly that this kind of perspective on the Bible’s authorship is totally wrong and ultimately unhelpful.)
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