Verbum 9 Tip 8ac: Faceted interactives: Commandments of the Law
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Commandments of the law
The documentation for this interactive is included in the tool under “about”.
This information, although in a more modern format, provides background for the Jewish squabbles over religious practices and provides an understanding of the reach of the law into everyday activities. From my perspective, this data is underutilized. The interactive is a classic faceted interactive with two sort orders:
- By category (or mitzvoth number sequence)
- By Biblical reference sequence
The facets are viewable in two sequences as well:
- By count (traditional for facets)
- Alphabetically
Available facets are:
- State
- Category
- Applicability
- People
- Places
- Things
- Themes
- Literary types
Apodictic vs. Casuistic law
From Hernando, James D. Dictionary of Hermeneutics: A Concise Guide to Terms, Names, Methods, and Expressions. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2012:[quote]
Apodictic laws
Refers to laws that are stated in an absolute, unconditional, or unqualified manner, either as commands or prohibitions (e.g., “you shall” or “shall not” do something). Behind apodictic law lies some moral, spiritual, or theological principle that has relevance and instructional value for NT Christians. However, because these laws are usually culturally specific, careful historical and cultural study is needed to uncover the relevant principle to be applied. Moreover, the commandments or prohibitions, although stated categorically (without exceptions), are not exhaustive but offer a principle by way of a representative example. The interpreter who tries to replicate the literal obedience of the original recipients will more often than not miss the truth principle these laws were intended to convey20 (Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, 276–77; Fee and Stuart, 139–40).
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Casuistic laws
Case-by-case laws related to the religious, civil, and ethical life of Israel, describing a situation and then the prescribed action to be taken. As a consequence, they are culturally specific and conditional. As such they belong to the old covenant and are limited in their applicability to the Christian. However, they do reveal the character of God and His will regarding various culturally specific situations, and so provide teaching that can instruct us today as we seek God’s guidance and will for our lives (Fee and Stuart, 141–42; Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, 275–76).[1]
The Decalogue, Ten Words, or Ten Commandments
From Wikipedia:[2] [quote]
Different religious traditions divide the seventeen verses of Exodus 20:1–17 and their parallels in Deuteronomy 5:4–21 into ten commandments in different ways, shown in the table below. Some suggest that the number ten is a choice to aid memorization rather than a matter of theology.
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The Ten Commandments |
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T |
R |
LXX |
P |
L |
S |
A |
C |
Main article |
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1 |
(1) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1 |
2 |
6 |
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2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
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2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4–6 |
8–10 |
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3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
11 |
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4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
8–11 |
12–15 |
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5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
16 |
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6 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
13 |
17 |
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7 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
14 |
18 |
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8 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
15 |
19 |
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9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
16 |
20 |
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10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house |
17a |
21b |
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10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife |
17b |
21a |
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10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
or his slaves, or his animals, or anything of thy neighbour |
17c |
21c |
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— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
10 |
— |
— |
You shall set up these stones, which I command you today, on Mount Gerizim. |
14c |
18c |
- All scripture quotes above are from the King James Version unless otherwise stated.
Traditions:
- T: Jewish Talmud, makes the "prologue" the first "saying" or "matter" and combines the prohibition on worshiping deities other than Yahweh with the prohibition on idolatry.
- R: Reformed Christians follow John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, which follows the Septuagint; this system is also used in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.
- LXX: Septuagint, generally followed by Orthodox Christians.
- P: Philo, has an extensive homily on why the order is so important, with the prohibition on adultery "the greatest of the commands dealing with persons", followed by the prohibitions against stealing and then killing last.
- L: Lutherans follow Luther's Large Catechism, which follows Augustine but subordinates the prohibition of images to the sovereignty of God in the First Commandment and uses the word order of Exodus 20:17 rather than Deuteronomy 5:21 for the ninth and tenth commandments.
- S: Samaritan Pentateuch, with an additional commandment about Mount Gerizim as 10th.
- A: Augustine follows the Talmud in combining verses 3–6, but omits the prologue as a commandment and divides the prohibition on coveting in two and following the word order of Deuteronomy 5:21 rather than Exodus 20:17.
- C: Catechism of the Catholic Church, largely follows Augustine. Combines the Exodus language prohibiting images of God with the command to have no other gods but the Lord, as the first commandment. Changes "the sabbath" into "the lord's day". Divides Exodus 20:17, prohibiting covetousness, into two commandments.
A comparison of the Ritual Decalogue to the Ethical Decalogue
From Wikipedia:[3] [quote]
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Ethical Decalogue, Deuteronomy 5:6–21 |
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11 Observe what I command you today. See, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will become a snare among you. 13 You shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and cut down their sacred poles 14 (for you shall worship no other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God). 15 You shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, someone among them will invite you, and you will eat of the sacrifice. 16 And you will take wives from among their daughters for your sons, and their daughters who prostitute themselves to their gods will make your sons also prostitute themselves to their gods. 17 You shall not make cast idols. 18 You shall keep the festival of unleavened bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 All that first opens the womb is mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. No one shall appear before me empty-handed. 21 For six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in ploughing time and in harvest time you shall rest. 22 You shall observe the festival of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the festival of ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out nations before you, and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year. 25 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, and the sacrifice of the festival of the passover shall not be left until the morning. 26 The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. |
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 Do not have any other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. |
6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 7 you shall have no other gods before me. 8 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, 10 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day. 16 Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 17 You shall not murder. 18 Neither shall you commit adultery. 19 Neither shall you steal. 20 Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor's house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. |
Comparison of the Covenant codes
From Wikipedia:[4] [quote]
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11 Observe what I command you today. See, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. |
22 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23 When my angel goes in front of you, and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, |
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12 Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will become a snare among you. 13 You shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and cut down their sacred poles 14 (for you shall worship no other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God). 15 You shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, someone among them will invite you, and you will eat of the sacrifice. 16 And you will take wives from among their daughters for your sons, and their daughters who prostitute themselves to their gods will make your sons also prostitute themselves to their gods. |
32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33 They shall not live in your land, or they will make you sin against me; for if you worship their gods, it will surely be a snare to you. 24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their doings; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their pillars. 13 Be attentive to all that I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips. |
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17 You shall not make cast idols. |
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18 You shall keep the festival of unleavened bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. |
15a You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. |
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19 All that first opens the womb is mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20a The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. |
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20b No one shall appear before me empty-handed. |
15b No one shall appear before me empty-handed. |
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21 For six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in ploughing time and in harvest time you shall rest. |
10 For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. 12 Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your homeborn slave and the resident alien may be refreshed. |
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22 You shall observe the festival of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the festival of ingathering at the turn of the year. |
16 You shall observe the festival of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall observe the festival of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. |
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23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out nations before you, and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year. |
17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God. |
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25 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, and the sacrifice of the festival of the passover shall not be left until the morning. |
18 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my festival remain until the morning. |
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26 The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. |
19 The choicest of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. |
Terminology
- Covenant Code or Book of the Covenant = Exodus 21:1-22:16
- Priestly Code = Leviticus 1-16
- Holiness Code = Leviticus 17-27
- Deuteronomic Code = Deuteronomy 12-26
Facets selected: Duties to God; Law, Apodictic in Category sequence
Facets selected: Duties to God; Law, Apodictic in Reference sequence
Search argument
{Label Mitzvoth WHERE Classification ~ "Duties to God”} AND {Section <LiteraryTyping ~ Law, Apodictic>} should duplicate the results above.
Comparison to the Command label
The Commandments of the Law (Mitzvoth) is based on traditional commentary and religious practice; Command is a linguistic category.
The Context Menu generated search argument for the two labels in Deut 21:23:
- {Label Command WHERE Type ~ "Prohibition" AND Verb Class ~ "Neglect"} Note the Verb Class links this attribute to the Bible Sense Lexicon.
- {Label Mitzvoth WHERE Applicable Today ~ false AND Classification ~ "Criminal Law" AND Command ~ "The Law of Burial" AND Number ~ "P231" AND State ~ "Positive"}
- {Label Mitzvoth WHERE Applicable Today ~ true AND Classification ~ "Duties to God" AND Command ~ "Leaving the Body of a Criminal Hanging Overnight After Execution" AND Number ~ "N66" AND State ~ "Negative"} Yes, there are two Mitzvoth entries
[1] James D. Hernando, “Law,” Dictionary of Hermeneutics: A Concise Guide to Terms, Names, Methods, and Expressions (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2012), 100–101.
[2] Ten Commandments - Wikipedia accessed 5/15/2021 4:02 PM
[3] Ritual Decalogue - Wikipedia accessed 5/15/2021 4:19 PM
[4] Ritual Decalogue - Wikipedia 5/15/2021 4:24 PM
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."