The Ten Commandments

Historical context

The Ten Commandments were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai in the third month after Israel came out of Egypt (Exodus 19:1). The people stood at the foot of the mountain and heard the voice of God from the fire (Deuteronomy 5:22). Moses received the two tables of stone, “written with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18).

The commandments are given twice in Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17 (KJV) and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 (KJV), with the small variation that in Deuteronomy the Sabbath commandment is grounded in the deliverance from Egypt rather than in the seventh-day rest of creation.

KJV references

Exodus 20:1-17 (KJV) — the ten commandments in order:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (v. 3)
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image… nor bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. (vv. 4-6)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (v. 7)
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God. (vv. 8-11)
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land. (v. 12)
6. Thou shalt not kill. (v. 13)
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. (v. 14)
8. Thou shalt not steal. (v. 15)
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (v. 16)
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. (v. 17)

Meaning today

The Lord Jesus summarized the whole Law in two commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart… and thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37-40).

• The first four commandments teach the household how to love God: worship no other, no idols, no misuse of the name, keep the Sabbath.
• The last six commandments teach the household how to love its neighbour: honour parents, no killing, no adultery, no stealing, no false witness, no coveting.

These ten words remain the moral foundation of Christian life — not a ladder of merit, but the shape of a life set free from sin by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Family teaching

Every Christian household needs to be able to recite the Ten Commandments together. Teach them to children early — one commandment per week over ten weeks is a gentle household season.

The Fifth Commandment (Honour thy father and thy mother) is the first with a promise attached (Ephesians 6:2-3). It is the hinge between loving God and loving neighbour, and it is the commandment that especially shapes the household.

The Tenth Commandment (Thou shalt not covet) is the interior commandment — the one that shows every honest heart it needs mercy.

Reflection

Paul says the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The Ten Commandments show the household what love of God and love of neighbour actually looks like — and they drive us to the Lord Jesus, who alone kept them perfectly and by whose grace we begin to keep them at all.

The commandments are read in Christian tradition three ways: as a mirror (they show us our sin), as a bridle (they restrain evil), and as a rule (they guide the redeemed life).

Christian tradition

• Recited in Christian worship since the earliest centuries; included in most catechisms.
• The Heidelberg Catechism, Westminster Larger Catechism, and Baltimore Catechism all give extended household commentary on each commandment.
• The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) intensifies the commandments — Ye have heard… but I say unto you.
• Christ is the goal of the Law (Romans 10:4); the Law is fulfilled in him.

Related Atlas links

• Exodus 20 — the chapter
• Mount Sinai
• Moses
• Egypt
• Matthew 5 — the Beatitudes and the Law fulfilled

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read — Exodus — read Exodus 19-20 together as a household.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — teach the ten commandments one per week.
• Kids (Kids Kingdom) — a child who knows the ten commandments has the moral vocabulary of the whole Bible.
• Pray (Chapel) — use the commandments as a pattern for examination of conscience.
• Wisdom Garden — the Fathers on the Decalogue.

Further reading

Exodus 19-20 and Deuteronomy 5:1-22 (KJV).

Matthew 5:17-48 (KJV) — the Lord Jesus and the Law.

Romans 13:8-10 (KJV) — love is the fulfilling of the Law.

The Westminster Larger Catechism, Questions 91-152 on the Ten Commandments.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Exodus 20
• Mount Sinai
• Moses
• Matthew 5
• Formation cluster peers:
  • The Lord’s Prayer
  • The Beatitudes
  • The Whole Armour of God
  • The Fruit of the Spirit
  • The Great Commission
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas’s main room.