Ten Commandments Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

- by Matthew Haynes
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- History, Ten Commandments, Exodus, Sabbath

Dutch translation of Kevin DeYoung, The Ten Commandments. What They Mean, Why They Matter, and Why We Should Obey Them (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018). Zijn de Tien Geboden vandaag de dag nog steeds relevant? Moeten ze nog steeds toegepast... more

- by Kees de Wildt
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- Ten Commandments

On a societal level Philo argues for a ius talionis based on values of equality, life itself, and health. The first principle results in democracy as the best political system. It also implies that every killing is unjust, including killing in war, as every person who kills in effect gives him or herself a higher value than his or her victim. The second principle implies that when a life is willingly taken, it must be retaliated against—by the death of the offender. In some cases, Philo also considers an intentional assault on someone’s health as murder, especially when the principle sign of life, the ratio (nous), is thereby lost. The condition for the culpability of murderers or potential murderers is in every case the intention to kill. This intention also includes incitement to murder and attempted murder.
On a religious level there is only the one God. God is the creator and the guarantee of the world order (logos) which includes and effectively amounts to natural law. Every offence against God is an offence against this order and cannot be redeemed, and the offender should be completely erased. However, as men are shaped in the image of God, they are, to some extent, also godly. Killing the image of God is, thus, killing a part of God in some way. At the societal level, the victim is to be recompensed by means of the death penalty for the murderer. However, at the religious level, the murderer has broken the law of nature—offended God’s image, and God himself—and must be eradicated, to preserve the goodness inherent in God’s work. To repeat the words of Philo once again:
"The term murder or manslaughter is used to signify the act of one who has killed a human being but in real truth that act is a sacrilege, and the worst of sacrileges."
(Philo, Spec. Laws 3.83; trans. Colson, LCL)

- by J. Cornelis de Vos
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- Jewish Law, Homicide, Philo of Alexandria, Ten Commandments

Commentary on Surviving and Thriving in the 21st Century: a discussion and Call to Action on Global Catastrophic Risks (2020) arising from a roundtable of the Commission for the Human Future.
Risks? Threats? Challenges? Goals?
Initiatives articulating global threats, risks, challenges and goals?
How many global threats, risks, challenges and goals merit recognition?
Habitual use of a 10-fold strategic framework?
Systemic perspective potentially implied by "Ten Commandments"?
Eliciting a 10-fold systemic framework
Experimental animations in 3D of 10-fold configurations of strategic dimensions
Strategic comprehension and dimensional compactification
Application to insights offered by the Club of Rome
Reconciling disparate strategic frameworks

- by Anthony Judge
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- Futures Studies, Ten Commandments, Comprehension, 3d Modelling
- by Tamás Paár
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- Ethics, Virtue Ethics, Moral Theology, Moral Philosophy

A preliminary reflection on sermonizing and our use of God's Name in the public sphere

- by Jan Martijn Abrahamse
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- Ethics, Public Theology, Political Theology, Ten Commandments

The detailed review includes abstracts of, and comments on, the 21 papers published in the volume. The reviewer offers the following suggestion about the origin and the early history of the Ten Commandments: th festival of Tabernacles may have been the occasion when the Levites, instead of reciting the entire Torah (Deut 31:9-13), would have used the Dacalogue in their teaching. The words of the Decalogue originated in the Deuteronomic milieu, and the form in which the text appears in the book of Exodus reflects its Deuteronomic derivation and its slight revision in a "Priestly" (P) environment. The migration of the Decalogue from Deutronomy to Exodus is the first episode in the long story of the Decalogue's reception history.

- by Bernhard Lang
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- Hebrew Bible, Audience and Reception Studies, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology

Israels flight from Egypt to the Promised Land: A Divine Image of the Christian Life

- by Justin Steckbauer
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- Christianity, Hebrew Bible, Israel/Palestine, Egypt

Krzysztof Kieslowski's television series called Decalogue (1989), based on the Ten Commandments, depicts various moral and ethical concerns of a group of people living in an apartment complex in Warsaw. Academicians like Christopher Garbowski and Slavoj Zizek have studied the Decalogue series with respect to the influence of the Commandments either on individual films in the series or on all the films in the series. Since the films are based on the Commandments, many see the television series as religious, and often tend to look at how each film in the series portrays the essence of what each Commandment stands for. This article however argues that Kieslowski's representation of the Commandments is not religious. That is, the director does not adhere to its literal meaning but instead, is searching for its practicality in daily life. The technique that the director has used to accentuate the influence of the Commandments and the segments in which its influence can be felt are explored here.

- by Rajarajeshwari Ashok
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- Religion, Ten Commandments, Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski

I examine John of Damascus' defense of icons, upheld at the Council of Nicea II (AD 787). John argues that the making and honoring of images of Christ and the saints are in keeping with Scripture and Tradition. Contrary to the view that the second commandment prohibits images, John argues that a proper understanding of the commandment shows it is a prohibition on the worship of creatures. Because the context of the commandment is that God is unseen, so no image of Him is possible, the question emerges whether something has changed for those who confess that the Son of God has taken on flesh. John argues that the Incarnation not only makes images of the Son permissible but raises the question of whether resistance to such images indicates a faulty Christology. As for the honoring of images, John shows that Scripture, though prohibiting worship of creatures, approves the honoring of people, places, and things. But more profoundly, John highlights that the Eastern Church fathers understand the Incarnation to bring human nature, and through it the world, into communion with the divine nature. This communion makes it possible for a creature to serve as a conduit for divine energy and grace. John argues that such conduits are rightly honored, not as God, but as creatures in whom God's energy and grace reside. This view carried the day at Nicea II as a faithful representation of the teachings of the apostles and the fathers and remains the view and practice of the Eastern Church to this day.

- by Nathan A . Jacobs
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- Iconography, Iconoclasm, Byzantine Iconography, Ten Commandments

Historically, “the Mediatorial Kingship of Jesus Christ over the Nations” has been a distinctive of the Covenanter church, in Scotland, England, Ireland, Canada, the United States of America, Australia, Japan, and now in China. The author... more

The Decalogue in Exodus was composed and strategically embedded in its literary context in order to reflect the discourse of Northwest Semitic monumental inscriptions. Monument making in the ancient Near East involved primarily the... more

- by Timothy Hogue
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- Ten Commandments, Exodus, Monumentality, Decalogue

Many advocate that the Ten Commandments are absolute and deontological, while some purport that they are relative. Arguments for absoluteness propose that Christians are duty-bound to obey these laws without exception, while arguments for relativity propose that the laws are relative in their application within the parameters defined by, semantics, culture, generalism and overarching love.

- by Lascelles G B James
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- Ethics, Languages and Linguistics, Biblical Studies, Christian Ethics

This paper was published as a companion study document for a series on the Ten Words. The document compares my English translation of the versions of the Ten Words presented in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5. The series is... more

- by Ross K Nichols
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- Ten Commandments, Torah/Pentateuch

The book Ten Commandments عَشْرَة كَلِمات التوْراة ( called Abtida Calamna) by Rabbi Saadia Gaon is now transcribed for the first time from Judeo-Arabic to Arabic. This paper shall be included in the next edition of Torah in Arabic,... more

The book Ten Commandments عَشْرَة كَلِمات التوْراة ( called Abtida Calamna) by Rabbi Saadia Gaon is now transcribed for the first time from Judeo-Arabic to Arabic.
This paper shall be included in the next edition of Torah in Arabic, The Official Commentary of the Pentatuch by Rabbi Saadia Gaon.
Published by Yomtov Hakohen- Project Saadia Gaon

- by Yomtov Hakohen- Project Saadia Gaon
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- Arabic, Hebrew Bible, Biblical Studies, Ten Commandments

This article discusses the controversy surrounding the issue of whether the Tablets containing the Ten Commandments (Luchos) were squared or round. It also discusses the opinions of various Rabbis concerning whether to uphold the custom... more

- by Reuven Chaim Klein and +1
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- Religion, Iconography, Jewish Studies, Covenant Theology

From Hellenistic Judaism to the Reformation era. For a chart sorting out the Jewish, Orthodox, Anglican, Reformed, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran traditions on how the Ten Words God spoke on Mount Sinai should be numbered, go here:... more

- by David C Jones
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- Ten Commandments, Decalogue

This paper has seeks to combine facts about the book of Ecclesiastes and its epilogue to show that there are solid reasons for reading this book as an undivided whole written by a single author. Likewise, because this author in the conclusion of his work has also given us his conclusion from a lifelong pursuit for lasting gain, we need to read Eccl 1:1-12:10 in light of 12:11-14. The author claims to be a king in Jerusalem so he must be a descendant of David. The chief end of man is to fear God and keep His commandments. This passage is both the conclusion of the book as well as the method to pursue for lasting gain beyond the sun. Trusting and obeying God is the key to happiness.

- by Ted D Manby
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- Ten Commandments, Reverence, Book of Ecclesiastes, Book of Qoheleth

From medieval Europe to contemporary USA.

- by David C Jones
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- Ten Commandments, Church and State, Decalogue
- by Carl S Ehrlich
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- Jewish Studies, Hebrew Bible, Ten Commandments, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East
- by Jodie Sangiorgio
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- Self and Identity, Systematic Theology, Feminist Theology, Feminism

Have we not all one patriarch Father? Why are the descendants of patriarch Abraham slaying others? What if the popular terms of jihad are ALL MISUNDERSTOOD? The original documents prove that veganism was the teaching of ALL OF THE PROPHETS. The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot unlearn the many lies they’ve been taught to believe. The Khurasan Banner is not of Afghanistan, the Sharia law is not what contemporary religious zealots are preaching. This is the second part of the Ark of the Covenant series.

- by Heidi Crawford-Yellen
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- Afghanistan, Islam, Visions And Dreams, Ten Commandments

The biblical text is explicit that God revealed Ten Words to his people at Mt. Sinai (Exod 34:28), but uncertainty still remains as to the proper enumeration of these ten. Many recent studies of the Decalogue accept without discussion the traditional Reformed breakdown. Throughout the centuries, however, interpreters have questioned their proper itemization, debating issues of form, style, semantic content, and cantillation, especially with reference to the boundaries of “words” one, two, and ten. The problems are only intensified by the various distinctions between Exod 20:1–17 and Deut 5:5–21. Recent studies in grammar above the sentence level (textlinguistics or discourse grammar) open new doors for evaluating literary structure from a bottom-up rather than top-down approach. Utilizing a nuanced understanding of the form, meaning, and function of the Hebrew connector wa, asyndetic constructions, and pronouns, this study reevaluates the numbering of the Decalogue and argues that the Masoretic paragraph marking and the traditional Catholic-Lutheran enumeration most closely align with the formal text-grammatical signals and find strong support from the perspective of form, style, semantic content, and cantillation. God gave us Ten Words, and we should know how to count them.

- by Jason S DeRouchie
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- Discourse Analysis, Languages and Linguistics, Linguistics, Ten Commandments
- by Rafael Bampi de Oliveira
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- Critical Theory, Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy

The Gerizim composition found in the Samaritan text of the Ten
commandments in Exod 20 and Deut 5, according to medieval manuscripts, presents a deliberate scribal attempt to stress some main points of Pentateuchal hermeneutics, completely in line with the hermeneutics and the literary techniques attested in the pre-Samaritan textual layer. Nothing in the Gerizim composition itself, or in its insertion at these points of the Pentateuch narrative, is specifically “Samaritan.” Rather, the authors of this insertion seem to have been part of the scribal culture shared by followers of both the Jerusalem and Gerizim sanctuary.

- by Edson M Nunes Jr.
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- Theology, Biblical Studies, Martin Buber, Ten Commandments

While individual commandments are important in the New Testament and the writings of the early church, the Decalogue gains significance as a unit in the works of Augustine, whose interpretation dominated medieval writings on the Ten Commandments. The primary reason for its importance is found in Augustine’s belief that numbers are imbued with theological significance.

- by Jonathan Hall
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- Historical Theology, Augustine of Hippo, Ten Commandments, History of Catechesis

Commento a ciascuno dei versi di Esodo 20 che contengono i Dieci comandamenti. Le due tavole della Legge vengono collegate alle due parti di cui è composta la preghiera del Padre nostro, indicando nel passaggio da prescrizioni a richieste... more

Jelen tanulmányban arra a kérdésre keressük a választ, ill. annak az eredőit szeretnénk feltárni és bemutatni, hogy a szabadító Úr ma is megszólító, ösztönző, megvizsgáló, életünk zsinórmértékét jelentő szövetséges igéit a zsidó és a keresztyén hagyomány miként osztja fel, tagolja. A kőtáblák ábrázolása és ezeken a parancsolatok jelzése a zsinagógákban, a templomokban, a különböző felekezetek hittankönyveiben, anyagaiban eltérő, azonban valójában nincs olyan összefoglaló, forrásokat részletesen bemutató, áttekintő szakirodalom, amely segítene a "Miért van így?"-kérdés megválaszolásában, ill. annak megfogalmazásához segítséget nyújtana. Ugyanazt a Tízparancsolatot vallási/felekezeti hagyományaink szerint más és más módon osztjuk parancsolatokra és helyezzük el a kőtáblákon.

- by Pap Ferenc
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- Ten Commandments, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Ószövetség, Ószövetségi Teológia

What function do the two versions of the Decalogue in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 have within the framework of the Tora of Moses? Markl shows that the ‘Ten Words’ constitute Israel within the making of the covenant at Sinai in analogy to constitutions of modern states. Moreover, the Pentateuch as a whole forms a society-constituting complex of texts – in a unique combination of the historical, ethical and legal dimensions. As a fundamental text for the Jewish and Christian tradition in the history of culture, the Decalogue provides impulses for the identity of the ‘open society’.

- by Dominik Markl
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- Theology, Biblical Studies, Ten Commandments, Torah/Pentateuch
- by Oskar E. Arocha N.
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- Theology, Systematic Theology, Old Testament Theology, Orthodox Theology

The aim of the article is to show some areas where the results of exegesis and biblical theology should be confronted with the latest discoveries of science on the world, nature, evolution, the human being, the brain, free will, psychology and morality. The author compares, shows difficulties arising from, and attempts to reconcile Christian anthropology with the image of man that emerges from well-established scientific truths. This paper is an introduction and an invitation to a discussion on this topic.

This is the second of my studies on the Decalogue (see also "Counting the Ten"), this one considering the exegetical, theological, and pastoral payoff of numbering the Ten Words as I do. Consideration is given to the development of the law theme in biblical theology, the meaning of the call to love God and neighbor portrayed in the Ten, the role of the Mosaic law in pointing to Christ, and the relationship of old covenant law in general and the Sabbath law in particular to Christians. The essay ends with an appendix that offers five guidelines for the Christian appropriation of old covenant law.

- by Jason S DeRouchie
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- Christianity, Law, Old Testament Theology, Biblical Theology

פסיקתא לעשרת הדברות היא מדרש ארץ-ישראלי קלאסי, ערוך לפי פסוקי עשרת הדברות ואורג סביבם דרשות, סוגיות ומעשים. פסע"ד הגיעה לידינו כשהיא משוקעת בתור דרשה לשבועות בחיבור מאוחר יחסית, פסיקתא רבתי, שהוא אוסף דרשות ופסקאות למועדים ולשבתות המיוחדות. בעבודה זו חזרתי ובחנתי את הפסקאות לעשרת הדברות וביררתי בעיות ותחומים שכמעט לא נדונו במחקר. העבודה ערוכה בשלושה תחומים ושלושה שלבים עוקבים. ראשית בחנתי בעיות יסוד הנוגעות לנוסח החיבור ולאופי מסירותיו הקדומות; לאחר מכן ביררתי את עריכתה של פסע"ד, הן מצד מבנה הפנימי ודרכי ארגונה הן מצד מקומה בספרות חז"ל; ולבסוף חקרתי מקצת מהמסורות הייחודיות ששוקעו בה ואת גלגולי הצורה והמשמעות שעברו בספרות חז"ל ובספרויות הנושקות לה. תחומי הנוסח, העריכה והפרשנות לגופן של דרשות כרוכים זה בזה ומלמדים זה על זה, והעיון המפולש בשלושתם – בכל תחום בפני עצמו ובשלושתם כאחד – יעמיד תיאור מורכב ויתרום להבנה שלמה ומעמיקה של הפסקאות לעשרת הדברות.

- by Shlomi Efrati
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- Textual Criticism, Angels, Rabbinic Literature, Ten Commandments

“You shall not kill” seems to be a self-evident norm, both in modernity and in antiquity. But what does this prohibition exactly mean? Does it only apply to humans or also to non-human beings? And what about indirect or unintentional killing? Is killing legitimate under certain circumstances? The prohibition of killing was most likely a prohibition of homicide, in its original context of the Decalogue (Exod 20:13 and Deut 5:17). However, as we all know, many other texts in the Bible refer to killing humans. Moreover, killing others in war or death penalty for capital crimes does not seem to be problematic in the biblical world. Sometimes God seems to be someone, for whom people should be killed for or who wants or orders others to be killed. In a few cases, it is God him/herself who appears as the one who kills. On the contrary other opinions like humans being created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27; 9,6) making them “god like,” which implicitly prohibits killing them, or the general prohibition of killing “You shall not kill” in the Decalogue, are articulated in the Bible. The central question of this volume is whether and how biblical and non-biblical killing prohibitions function as a norm in antiquity. The contributors stem from different research fields such as ancient law, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, New Testament, ancient Judaism, ancient history, and the church fathers. The volume covers a time spanning from the Ancient Near East up to the Christian patristic era with a look forward to Martin Luther.

- by J. Cornelis de Vos
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- Jewish Law, Homicide, Ten Commandments, Biblical Law

Tolerance of same-sex relations in the earlier Platonic dialogues is called into question in Plato's *Laws.* Jennings offers insightful historical and political motivations as to why this Platonic anomaly may have come about. The colloquial image of the gay-friendly Plato is all the more dangerous because it is so tacitly presupposed ~ so uncritically accepted ~ that it seems almost genetically to pass down through the educated classes. To out Plato ~ he who very well may have invented the closet ~ as, himself, a closeted proto-homophobe is utterly scandalous and utterly necessary and...deserves our attention and applause.

- by Virgil Brower
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- Critical Theory, Religion, Christianity, Comparative Religion

The final of the Ten Commandments raises the curiosity of law that appears to try to regulate our inner thought-processes. Zachary Silver, in “Mind Control? A Halachic and Meta- Halachic Investigation of Forbidden Thoughts” reviews how... more

- by Zachary Silver
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- Jewish Law, Jewish Studies, Rabbinic Literature, Ten Commandments

The focus of this article is the Sabbath commandment as it is expressed in Exod 20. A number of factors that contribute to its expression are examined: the place of the Decalogue in the life of Israel, the stipulations for proper Sabbath observance, and the reasoning and motivation that lie behind its keeping. Additionally, various facets of human life that mark the seventh day of creation are connected to specific terminology within the fourth commandment. The article concludes by arguing that the Sabbath commandment in Exodus, properly observed, is a picture of the seventh day of creation and that a desire to recover that situation motivates its keeping.

- by Matthew Haynes
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- Ten Commandments, Genesis 1-11, Sabbath, Interpretations of Genesis 1-3
- by Hendrik Koorevaar and +1
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- Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy, Book of Proverbs, Book of Song of Songs

Rudie van Leeuwen The painting Moses and the Israelites from 1574, which was commissioned by Peeter Panhuys (1529-85) from the Antwerp painter Maerten de Vos (1532-1603), serves as a case study for answering the question how the choice of a subject relates to the faith of the persons portrayed in a biblical portrait historié. Hence the starting point for this contribution is a partly new identification of the sitters and a new assessment of their religious persuasions. Although the persons portrayed have been connected to the 'spiritualistic' movement of the Family of Love in earlier studies, no attempt was made to interpret the painting in the light of this connection. The Family attracted both Protestants and Catholics. The iconography of this portrait historié however, points in the direction of Lutheran interpretation and seems to confirm the (otherwise established) Lutheran sympathies of Peeter Panhuys. Moreover, the specific formulation of the Ten Commandments indicates the consultation of a Lutheran (Bible) translation. This observation seems remarkable since the painting was considered distinctly Calvinist by others. Both passages from Luther's works and the Chronicles of the Family of Love explain the choice of subject of the panel. Notwithstanding evidence for a Familist interpretation, it has become clear that Hooftman and Panhuys were not fanatical Calvinists but rather moderate Lutherans.

- by Rudie van Leeuwen
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- Reformation History, Reformation Studies, Calvinism, Lutheranism

The sixth commandment has been translated into English as either, "You shall not murder," or, "You shall not kill," but the Hebrew word that has been translated as "murder" or "kill" is a relatively rare root throughout the Hebrew Bible in comparison with the many other Hebrew words for the taking of life. Other than the prohibitions (the sixth commandment) in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17, every time that the root appears in the Hexateuch, it is in the very specific context of the cities of refuge. Outside of the Hexateuch, the root occurs only three times in the Deuteronomistic History, and two of those times are directly related to each other. All other occurrences of the root are in a limited number of passages throughout the rest of the Hebrew Bible, and they provide little insight into the meaning of the root. While the meaning of the root still eludes us, it is important to recognize the problems of our present English translations of the sixth commandment. Given the limited scope of the root as well as its relative obscurity in other parts of the Bible, by systematically walk through every case in the Hebrew Bible where the root appears, I demonstrate that the Hebrew root in the sixth commandment should not be understood as either "murder" or "kill."

- by Brittany Zimmerman
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- Hebrew Language, Hebrew Bible, Bible Translation, Bible Translations