THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (A.K.A. THE DECALOGUE)

Analysis of commandments 7 to 10

See also an analysis of commandments 1 to 3 or 4 to 6

About this essay:

We will follow the Protestant/Eastern Orthodox sequence of Exodus 20, since that is the format most familiar to North Americans.This essay will attempt to explain:

• The original meaning of each commandment.

• How people interpret them today.

• The meaning interpreted by The Westminster Larger Catechism. The latter is still used by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and some other Reform denominations within Christianity. ₁ The Catechism was written in 1649. Its authors seem to have enlarged the scope of most of the Commandments to include many other sins -- some apparently unrelated to the original text. By doing this, they expand the meaning of the Decalogue to incorporate many of the over 600 other instructions and prohibitions that form the Mosaic Law. This would overcome one of the main objections to the Decalogue: that they only deal with a fraction of the behaviors that need to be regulated.

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The individual commandments 6 to 10 in Exodus 20:

	7th Commandment; Verse 14 "Thou shalt not commit adultery." This referred to a man engaging in sexual intercourse with a woman who was either married or betrothed to another man. In ancient Israel, a women was considered a piece of property, who was generally owned by her father or husband.  If a man seduced a virgin, the transgression was treated as a commercial infraction. The woman would have lost part of her value to her father. Not being a virgin, she might not be able to find a husband in the future, and thus her father could not benefit financially from her marriage. The seducer was required to pay the virgin's father an amount of money, and perhaps to marry the woman. The woman has no say in the matter; some were forced to marry a rapist who they loathed. (Exodus 22:16-17). None of the Ten Commandments prohibits same-sex relationships. Similarly no commandment or passage in the Hebrew Scriptures forbids a man engaging in heterosexual fornication (i.e. sexual activity outside of marriage) as long as the woman was neither a virgin, or was owned by (i.e. married or betrothed to) another man. However, some Christian groups expand the scope of the 7th commandment to include an amazing array of behaviors.  The Westminster Larger Catechism, still used by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and some other denominations contains the following entry. Like most catechisms this is in a question and answer format: Q 139:  What are the sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment? A. The sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, are: Adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, and all unnatural lusts; All unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections; All corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto; Wanton looks, impudent or light behavior, immodest apparel, prohibiting of lawful, and dispensing with unlawful marriages; Allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them; Entangling vows of single life, undue delay of marriage; having more wives or husbands than one at the same time; Unjust divorce or desertion; Idleness, gluttony, drunkenness, unchaste company; Lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stageplays, and all other provocations to, or acts of, uncleanness either in ourselves or others. A "stew" is a brothel. Since sexual fantasies are a normal part of being human, it would appear that the church would consider adultery to be nearly universal throughout the world. 1 Masturbation usually involves sexual fantasizing. According to words attributed to Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) in Matthew 5:27-28, a man lusting after a woman is equivalent to him committing adultery. Some have argued that the seventh commandment's prohibitions extend to masturbation -- at least for men.
	8th Commandment; Verse 15 "Thou shalt not steal." According to the King David Community: "...this Commandment has been interpreted to refer to only one kind of theft; namely, to someone who kidnaps a person, forces him or her to work for him, and then sells him or her into slavery. This, like the previous prohibitions mentioned in the verse, murder and adultery, is a Capital Crime; that is, punishable by the death-penalty." 2 Since slavery has now been abolished in North America, this commandment is no longer applicable. In modern times, the commandment is interpreted to mean the stealing of any piece of property. This is not directly related to its original meaning. The Westminster Larger Catechism includes: "The covetousness; inordinate prizing and affecting worldly goods... envying at the prosperity of others; as likewise idleness, prodigality, wasteful gaming..."
	9th Commandment; Verse 16 "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." This forbids perjury while testifying in a courtroom. In ancient Israel, a person who lies in court receives the penalty that would be due a person guilty of the crime at question. The common meaning of this commandment is unchanged today. The Westminster Larger Catechism includes the sins of passing unjust sentence, tale bearing, whispering, boasting, etc.
	10th Commandment; Verse 17 "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."  "Covet" is a word that is gradually going out of usage. One set of definitions of the word is: To wish for enviously. To desire inordinately or culpably ~ vi: to feel inordinate desire for what belongs to another. 3 Religious liberals believe that the original text included only the first seven words. That is because the word "house" by itself was assumed to include all of a man's possessions: his building, wife, male slaves, female slaves, children, animals, etc. A woman, in biblical times, was considered to be the property first of her father and after marriage of her husband. Many biblical translations shy away from the term "slave" and use a more ambiguous word like "manservant." We have even heard Christian radio programs refer to slaves as "butlers" and "maids." The Decalogue is not talking about servants here. A master could beat his slave so severely that she/he died within a few days, and not be charged with an offense. With the exception of a very few countries slavery has been abolished today. The many rules and regulations which condoned and governed slavery in the Bible are now ignored. There is a growing world-wide consensus that slavery, the owning of one person by another, is profoundly immoral; it was not considered as such by the Decalogue. The Westminster Larger Catechism interprets this commandment, close to its original meaning: "The sins forbidden in the tenth commandment are, discontentment with our own estate; envying and grieving at the good of our neighbor, together with all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his." It seems to recognize that a man's wife, slaves and children are among his possessions. Modern-day society has abandoned many of the biblical concepts mentioned in this commandment. Women are generally regarded as free individuals, with a value and status equal to men; they are not classed as property -- as something to be owned. Slavery has been abolished in all but two countries, although near slavery is still found in many areas of the world.

Harry Binswanger a professor at the Ayn Rand Institute's Objectivist Graduate Center is not impressed by this series of commandments. He says that they are:

"... unobjectionable but common to virtually every organized society -- the commandments against murder, theft, perjury and the like. But what is objectionable is the notion that there is no rational, earthly basis for refraining from criminal behavior, that it is only the not-to-be-questioned decree of a supernatural Punisher that makes acts like theft and murder wrong. The basic philosophy of the Ten Commandments is the polar opposite of the philosophy underlying the American ideal of a free society. Freedom requires:

• A metaphysics of the natural, not the supernatural; of free will, not determinism; of the primary reality of the individual, not the tribe or the family;
  
  
• An epistemology of individual thought, applying strict logic, based on individual perception of reality, not obedience and dogma;
  
  
• An ethics of rational self-interest, to achieve chosen values, for the purpose of individual happiness on this earth, not fearful, dutiful appeasement of 'a jealous God' who issues 'commandments'.
  

Did the ancient Hebrews obey the Commandments?

They frequently deviated from the Ten Commandments:

	Archaeologists have found "figurines of the fertility goddesses of Canaan and the Egyptian amulets" in their houses. 4
	There are numerous instances in the Bible of individuals being murdered in cold blood in violation of the 6th commandment. In one notable incident, the wife and children of a Achan, a soldier, were executed because of his sins.
	As mentioned above, God-ordained genocide was common at one time during the history of Israel.
	There are other cases where leading biblical characters lied, and thus violated the 9th commandment.

It would seem that biblical figures in the Hebrew Scriptures did not view the Ten Commandments as universal rules of behavior. They seemed to have apply them mainly in their interactions with fellow Jews.

References:

1. The Westminster Larger Catechism (1649): Questions 1 to 97 are at: http://www.reformed.org/documents/larger1.html; Questions 98 to 196 are at:  http://www.reformed.org/documents/larger2.html
2. " 'Aseret HaDibrot' - (English: Ten Commandments or Ten Utterances)," King David Community, at:  http://quicksitebuilder.cnet.com/
3. Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam Webster, 10th Edition.
4. C.M. Laymon, Editor, "The Interpreters One-volume Commentary on the Bible," Abingdon, (1971), Pages 53-55.
5. Harry Binswanger, "The Ten Commandments vs. America," Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, 2005-MAR-02, at: http://www.courier-journal.com/

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