The 10 commandments: what they are, meaning and history - Meanings

The 10 Commandments

What are the 10 commandments?

The 10 commandments are a set of ethical and religious laws or principles that guide the behavior of Jews and Christians. Also known as the Decalogue, the 10 commandments are found in the book of Exodus (chapter 20) and in the book of Deuteronomy (chapter 5), both from the Old Testament.

For believers, the principles of the Decalogue are commandments of God's law. In the Christian tradition, in particular, they are expressed and numbered differently than in Judaism, although they are essentially the same. In addition, they can be summed up in one: you will love God above all things and your neighbor as yourself (see Matthew 22, 37-39; Jn 13, 34). Next, let's see what the ten commandments are, their meaning, and their history.

1. You will love God above all things

The first commandment consists of putting all faith, trust, and love in one God, as well as accepting God's authority and guidance over one's life. God must be the beginning and the end of existence. This includes not worshiping or worshiping any idol, whether material or symbolic.

The formulation of the phrase "love God above all things" synthesizes two implied commandments, one taken from the book of Exodus and the other from Deuteronomy. Namely:

• "There will be no other gods for you before me." Exodus 20, 2.
• "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 5, 5.

According to the gospels, the aforementioned commandment of Deuteronomy 5, 5 was considered by Jesus as the most important of the Jewish tradition. For this reason, Christianity exalts him (see Matthew 22, 34-39).

2. You will not take God's name in vain

The believer is forbidden to use the name of God without justification. This includes swearing in his name unnecessarily, cursing, blaspheming, lying, attacking others, or taking advantage of others. The gravity of this is that when a believer uses God's name in vain, his bad deeds discredit God's reputation, and may lead others to deny Him.

3. You will sanctify the holidays

Sanctifying the holidays consists of respecting the sacred days, resting, and complying with the rituals that express the believer's relationship with God.

The importance of sanctifying the holidays lies in keeping the presence of God alive and nurturing one's own spirituality, since "man does not live by bread alone". This prevents the believer from absolutizing work and falling into empty activism.

Likewise, it allows the believer to dedicate time to cultivate his relationship with God and with his loved ones in favor of his spiritual growth.

4. You will honor father and mother

Honoring father and mother means respecting them, loving them, and showing gratitude for the care they have lavished on their children. It implies that the children become good people, in such a way that the parents are blessed and that the family enjoys a well-reputed name.

This principle can also be applied to other family ties, as well as in respectful relationships with teachers and other authority figures who generously share their teachings.

5. Thou shalt not kill

Life is considered a sacred gift bestowed by God, and in that sense, only God has the right to take it away. This commandment is a fundamental civic principle of Judaism and Christianity. Murder and violence are condemned by law. There are no exceptions. He who kills violates the sacred principle of life.

6. You will not commit impure acts

Adultery, infidelity, rape, rape, and other acts of lust that compromise the moral or physical integrity of people are considered impure acts.

The meaning of this law is to promote the exercise of dignified sexuality through the control of carnal impulses, respect for the other, and the sanctification of marriage. In this way, marital fidelity, self-control, and sexual health are promoted.

7. You shall not steal

The commandment not to steal is part of the civic aspects of the Ten Commandments. It encompasses many direct or indirect ways of causing material and moral harm to others. For example:

• take something of another's without the consent of the other;
• charge more than fair;
• altering weights and measures in stores to charge customers more;
• sell damaged or unusable merchandise;
• lend money with interest and oppressive payment plans (usury);
• extract money from the public coffer;
• extort money from citizens by charging illegal commissions;
• being an accomplice in the theft of someone else's property or benefiting from what was stolen;
• not paying the worker his salary or his legal benefits, or paying him less than he deserves;
• failure to perform duty at work;
• deliberately not repaying what was borrowed.

8. You will not give false testimony or lie

The eighth commandment forbids lying, especially when it comes to slander against others. The lie has the power to destroy people morally and materially, and its consequences can be irreparable. For example, slander can cause a person to lose their work and family life forever. Therefore, the reputation of people must be considered sacred. Your well-being depends on it.

9. You will not indulge impure thoughts or desires

In Christianity, the ninth commandment is not to admit or deliberately stimulate thoughts that violate the values ​​of chastity, respect for the other, and marital fidelity. Indulging in it, that is, consciously feeding impure thoughts increases the risk of causing harm to others and oneself.

This commandment is an extension of one of the aspects pointed out in verse 17 of the book of Exodus, chapter 20: «you shall not covet your neighbor's wife», also available in Deuteronomy 5, 21.

10. You will not covet the goods of others

The tenth and last commandment can be summed up as follows: You shall not envy. That is, you will not want the goods that others have. In Judeo-Christian spirituality, greed is understood to be the gateway to theft, murder, and carnal incontinence. Therefore, this commandment aims to promote the value of work, brotherhood, and fidelity.

history of the ten commandments

The origin of the ten commandments is written in the book of Exodus, chapter 20. After Moses managed to free his people, the Jews wandered through the desert in search of the promised land.

According to the biblical account, they camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Then, Moses went up the mountain, where God manifested himself to him and gave Moses the so-called Tablets of the Law, in which the divine law was recorded.

The ten commandments of Jewish law are as follows:

1º) You will not have other gods before me.

2º) You will not make any sculpture or image of what is above, in the sky, or below, on earth, or below the earth, in the waters. You shall not bow down to them, nor worship them, for I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, who punishes the wickedness of the fathers in the children, even to the third and fourth generation, if they hate me; and I have mercy throughout a thousand generations if they love me and keep my commandments.

3º) You shall not pronounce the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, because he will not leave unpunished those who pronounce it in vain.

4º) Remember the day Saturday to sanctify it. For six days you will work and do all your tasks, but the seventh is a day of rest in honor of the Lord your God. Neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male or female slave, nor your animals, nor the foreigner residing in your cities, will do any work on it. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them, but on the seventh day, he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

5º) Honor your father and your mother, so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord, your God, gives you.

6th) You shall not kill.

7º) You will not commit adultery.

8º) You will not steal.

9º) You will not give false testimony against your neighbor.

10th) You shall not covet your neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male slave, or his female slave, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him.

Exodus 20, 2-17

Coming down the mountain, Moses found the people worshiping a golden calf (Exodus 32). Outraged, he broke the tablets of the law, destroyed the idol, and went back up Mount Sinai. There, God manifested himself again, showing his mercy. When he came down from the mountain, Moses brought other tablets identical to the previous ones.

The Jews added other commandments to the Decalogue, and together they came to form a compendium of 613 laws (still in force in traditional Judaism). When Christianity arose, it inherited the Ten Commandments from Judaism but discarded the other laws.

The 5 commandments of the Catholic Church

In addition to the ten commandments, the Catholic Church contemplates five commandments on the minimum ritual duties that its faithful must observe. These commandments are:

1. Go to Mass on Sundays and holy days.
2. Confess mortal sins at least once a year, in danger of death or before communion.
3. Communion on Easter.
4. Fast on the days established by the Church.
5. Help the Church in its material needs.

 

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