Then God spoke all these words.

Exodus 20:1

In Exodus 19, the Israelites came to Mt. Sinai and set up camp. Through Moses, the Lord expressed his intent to make a covenant with Israel. They would become his special people and live for his special purposes. Before revealing to the people exactly what their covenantal obligations would be, the Lord called them to prepare themselves, and he astounded them with dramatic demonstrations of his awesome power. In this context, “God spoke all these words” (20:1).

We refer to all these words as the Ten Commandments. Though they certainly are commandments, the Hebrew text calls them “words,” not “commandments” (devarim, not mitzwot). This explains why Jewish people refer to this set of ten imperatives as “The Ten Words.” Sometimes, English speakers refer to the Ten Commandments as The Decalogue, from the Greek word dekalogos, which means “ten words.”

Curiously, there is not one set numbering for the Ten Commandments or Words. Some traditions combine “you must not have any other god” and “you must not make for yourself an idol” into one commandment. In order to get a total of ten, they divide the prohibition against coveting into two commandments (“You must not covet your neighbor’s house” and “You must not covet your neighbor’s wife.”) The standard Protestant number splits the first two and regards the commandments against coveting as one. Since I am a standard Protestant, I’ll use this division.

Of course, none of this makes much of a difference for our reflections on this passage. I mention these curiosities because they can sometimes confuse people. There’s no need to worry if your Jewish friend refers to the Ten Words or your Christian friend from a another tradition employs a different numbering system.

It is worth noting, however, that God spoke the Ten Words to the Israelites. Almost all of the Jewish law came to the people in writing through the scribal activity of Moses. But the Ten Words were different. God actually spoke them to all the people, according to Exodus 20:1.

Why is this important? For one thing, the fact that God spoke to all the people emphasizes the personal, relational nature of the covenant. God didn’t just give his people a bunch of rules to follow. Rather, as we saw in Exodus 19, he invited the Israelites into a living relationship with him. Yes, this relationship would include plenty of dos and don’ts. But the rules were always meant to be secondary to the central relationship between God and his people.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: When you think of the Ten Commandments, what thoughts, feelings, or memories come to mind, if any? What difference would it have made if God had given the Ten Words to Israel in writing rather than in speech? How do you sort out the relationship between obeying God and having an intimate relationship with him?

PRAYER: Gracious Lord, I am impressed today by the fact that you spoke the Ten Words to your people. Even in revealing to them the core of their covenant obligations, there was an essentially personal, relational quality to your communication.

And so it is with me. Though I know you in truth through the written word, this word bears witness to your revelation in spoken words, and most of all in the Word made flesh. Moreover, though I have never heard your voice with my ears, I have heard the still, small voice of your Spirit. Thank you, gracious God, for making yourself and your will known to me in such a personal and tangible way. Amen.