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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
