Exodus 20
And God spoke all these words, saying
:*******Tablet #1*******
Commandment #1
I am the LORD thy God,
who brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage
Commandment #2
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image,
nor any manner of likeness,
of any thing that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth;
thou shalt not bow down unto them,
nor serve them;
for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and
fourth generation of them that hate Me;
and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me
and
keep My commandments.
Commandment #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.
Commandment #4
Remember the sabbath day,
to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all thy work;
but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God,
in it thou shalt not do any manner of work,
thou,
nor thy son,
nor thy daughter,
nor thy man-servant,
nor thy maid-servant,
nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;
for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth,
the sea,
and all that in them is
,and rested on the seventh day;
wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day,
and hallowed it.
Commandment #5
Honour thy father and thy mother,
that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
**** Tablet # 2*****
Commandment #6
Thou shalt not murder.
Commandment #7
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Commandment #8
Thou shalt not steal.
Commandment #9
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Commandment #10
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house;
thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife,
nor his man-servant,
nor his maid-servant,
nor his ox,
nor his ass,
nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
*******
And all the people perceived the thunderings,
and
the lightnings,
and
the voice of the horn,
and the mountain smoking;
and when the people saw it,
they trembled,
and stood afar off.
And they said unto Moses:
‘Speak thou with us, and we will hear;
but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’
And Moses said unto the people:
‘Fear not;
for God is come to prove you,
and that His fear may be before you,
that ye sin not.’
And the people stood afar off;
but Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
And the LORD said unto Moses:
Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel:
Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
Ye shall not make with Me–gods of silver, or gods of gold,
ye shall not make unto you.
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me,
and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings,
and thy peace-offerings,
thy sheep,
and thine oxen;
in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee and bless thee.
And if thou make Me an altar of stone,
thou shalt not build it of hewn stones;
for if thou lift up thy tool upon it,
thou hast profaned it.
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar,
that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.
Copied from: http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0220.htm
(Continued to the next page)
My Notes:
1. And all the people perceived the thunderings – How does one “perceive” thunder. We can hear thunder, do we today, “see thunder”? The Sages teach that they actually “Saw” thunder. Talk about a new wave- CGI (Computer generated image) of thunder. “The voice of the horn” – How does one hear a “Voice” in a horn? It did not state “Sound of a horn”. It was specific, “Voice”.
2. Most people do not realize that the first commandment is actually G-d telling you that you were taken out of the land of Egypt. How can this be a commandment? The fact of the matter is, that the Exodus, the Passover celebration is about “Remembrance of the fact that G-d took you out of Egypt” and you are commanded to remember this.
3. Many people think that “Honor your mother and father” are on the 2nd tablet. This is a misnomer. The Fact that G-d is likened to your parent, so this is why it is on the first tablet. Even a parent who mistreats you is still to be honored as if it was not for them, you would not be here. (This is a very deep subject, one of which I cannot answer nor will I even try.)
4. Sabbath- The word Sabbath is translated to “rest” and the seven, the 7th day is holy. Even if you look at our Gregorian calendars (Minus the ones that are for business and have the weekend at the far right) we will note that Sabbath (7th position) is on Saturday. So if you are celebrating any other day of the week. Please reread the Creation story and pray for insight on to the meaning of “7” Day of creation is about.
5. Sabbath- Even your servants and your animals are to rest on the Sabbath day. Nothing is to do any Melacha (Work). It even includes those who are with you, but may not be a part of you. Meaning those who adhere to your understanding of the Torah and are willing to be evenly yoked with you. (See yoke)
6. Yoke – In modern view this tends to have a negative connotation. However when we look deeper, we will see that “yoke” is what an ox would wear, 2 oxen side by side, equal in size and stature. You would never yoke a donkey to an ox. Hence, the one would carry all the load and the other would be dragged along. Even further we will notice that a yoked ox follows its master. And when unyoked it knows that its daily work is done. (Rest = Sabbath).
7. Graven images – We tend to think of horrible images, but this is speaking of anything that has an image. We have to remember that G-d has no image, is not a corporal body. Even though scriptures use the words, hand, face, back when speaking of G-d, it is not literal. It is figurative; so that we (humans) can understand something we cannot see or view. How else would you explain nothingness to someone and say that it is “really something”. (If you search my page I have other writings and posts on G-d not having a body). The Greek’s have taught us that the body is the “et all”. When Rome took control over Greece, the body was basically killed, proving that they were the victors. Rome’s version of punishment was always torture, crucifixion’s etc.
8. Table #2 – If we would all follow the simple outline on tablet #2 we would be following the age old adage of “Love thy Neighbor as thy self”. Today, I often wonder how people can love another, when we have so many people who are self-hating. If you can’t love yourself; how will you be able to transfer your love and understanding of love to others?
On a personal note:
Once I finally understood the 10 Commandments (Actually called “Utterances”) I finally realized that for too many years, I was actually breaking all the commandments, unknowingly. When I reviewed them, as I’m noting here, I realized I was bowing to another person’s god. I was celebrating the wrong Sabbath, and I was not even honoring parents as they should be. I’ve taken many growths in trying to correct, that which I have broken. And now that I’m in more of a proper alignment with my creator I have found such comfort in my life….
May you too find soulfulness that you are seeking!
Shavout the day the Torah was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai is a perfect time to reflect on these teachings.
Chag Semaech Shavout!
miryamdevorah 