4 02, 2020

Why are there two versions of the Ten Commandments?

By |2020-02-04T08:11:02-07:00February 4th, 2020|Thoughts|

There are two accounts of the Ten Commandments. One is in Exodus 20 and the second in Deuteronomy 5. The two differ in more than a dozen instances in the spelling of some terms, added and changed expressions, word order changes, and the insertion of explanations in the Deuteronomic edition. An example of a modification [...]

11 06, 2018

People don’t know what’s in the Ten Commandments

By |2018-06-11T04:58:45-07:00June 11th, 2018|Thoughts|

  Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Jews are convinced that while they do not know much about their religion, they do know about the “Ten Commandments.” This is not true, as the following examples show:[1] There are not ten commandments. The oft-used term “Ten Commandments” is incorrect. Scholars and clerics know there are more than ten [...]

31 01, 2018

What does the Ten Commandments really say?

By |2018-01-31T10:50:59-07:00January 31st, 2018|Thoughts|

Some Jewish philosophers and rabbis and non-Jews disagreed over what exactly the Bible was saying in the Ten Commandments. The philosopher Philo who lived during the beginning of the Common era is an example. There are not ten commandments. The oft-used term “Ten Commandments” is incorrect. Scholars and clerics know there are more than ten commands [...]

12 11, 2017

Did we sin?

By |2017-11-12T06:48:20-07:00November 12th, 2017|Thoughts|

  I bought a statue of the famed philosopher Aristotle. It is covered in heavy bronze. It is 14.25 inches tall. It looks great. I placed it next to the Maimonides books that I wrote because Aristotle (384-322 BCE) and Maimonides (1138-1204 CE) are my favorite philosophers. Both are rationalists. Socrates taught Plato, Plato taught [...]

4 02, 2015

Prophets, rabbis, and philosophers changed the Decalogue

By |2015-02-04T12:33:23-07:00February 4th, 2015|Thoughts|

                                                                         Prophets, rabbis, and philosophers changed the Decalogue   I have been mentioning that Judaism has changed many biblical commands. In my book “Mysteries of Judaism, I showed that the rabbis modified every one of the biblical holidays, without exception. One would think that the rabbis would not alter the Decalogue, the fundamental biblical [...]

12 02, 2014

Does Joshua 24 deny the revelation of the Decalogue at Sinai?

By |2014-02-12T07:05:01-07:00February 12th, 2014|Thoughts|

                                                                         Chapter 24                         Does Joshua 24 deny the revelation of the Decalogue at Sinai?   The chapter contains an account of a covenant that Joshua made with the Israelites in the city of Shechem[1] toward the end of his life. He persuaded them to agree to never abandon God by worshipping idols. He [...]

13 01, 2014

Yitro – Revelation and The Ten Commandments

By |2014-01-13T05:35:26-07:00January 13th, 2014|Thoughts|

                                                                                 Yitro                                                                   (Chapters 18:1–20:23)                                     Revelation and the Ten Commandments (Chapter 20:1–14)[1]   The events preceding the revelation are told in chapter 19. Moses ascends Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:3) and communicates with God on the third day of the third month. He descends on the same day (Exodus 19:7) and communicates [...]

17 07, 2013

Va’etchanan – Unusual Interpretations 45

By |2013-07-17T09:36:43-07:00July 17th, 2013|Thoughts|

                                                                  By Israel Drazin    We will use the portion of Va’etchanan (3:23-7:11) to explore the nuances, deeper significances, and lessons missed in translations from Hebrew to English, and we will examine some verses that say something rabbis rejected.   Unusual word             This portion begins with the idiomatic va’etchanan, which is in the Hebrew [...]

31 01, 2013

Unusual Biblical Interpretations 13

By |2013-01-31T08:05:43-07:00January 31st, 2013|Thoughts|

                                                                                  By Israel Drazin   Obscurities People think of the Bible as a book of instruction, telling people how to act; yet it is frequently obscure. One example among hundreds is Exodus 18:7 that relates that when Moses’ father-in-law Yitro came to visit him in the desert, he bowed and kissed him, and [...]

7 12, 2011

Do religious laws benefit God?

By |2011-12-07T07:58:10-07:00December 7th, 2011|Thoughts|

By Israel Drazin   It is certainly true that most Jews today, including most rabbis, see a distinction between ritual and social laws. The first focuses on God and the second on people. In the Ten Commandments, for example, the laws forbidding idols and those requiring rest on the Sabbath are seen by most Jews [...]

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