The Ten Commandments

[OnceConvinced]

Have you ever looked at the ten commandments and wonder what the hell was God thinking? Why did he put these ten things above all else? I can understand most of them, but certainly not all.

Just take a look at them:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any 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 thyself to 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;)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. 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.

The first three commandments are all about God and if they are that important to him then it shows us what an insecure and jealous God he is (Note that jealousy is a sin). That’s 30% of the commandments! Is God’s ego that delicate that he had to include 3 commandments such as this? Then you have laws like “thou shalt not covet” which seems to be small fry in the sin department next to many other things. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” also seems to be a small fish in a big pond when things like rape and paedophilia seem to be given a very low priority.

So what about some of the other important stuff? Where are all the other commandments that would seem to be so incredibly important? Where is…?

Thou shalt not take another human being as a slave (You’d think God would take a harder line on this issue)

Thou shalt not rape (Sexual crimes seem to be unimportant as far as God’s concerned when it comes to the 10 commandments - apart from adultry. In fact the bible says God expects rape victims to marry their abusers)

Thou shalt not take drugs (or something like that. After all, God knows what will happen in the future and must have surely known it would become a major problem further down the line. He is either short sighted or has no knowledge of what will happen in the future.)

I am aware there are a lot of issues dealt with in other parts of the Torah relating to immoralities, however the 10 Commandments seem to stand out as God’s main issues and that is what I am trying to focus on here.

So my questions:
What commandments that haven't been included do you think should have been included and why?
Should any have been omitted? Why?
Should any have been reworded or elaborated more on?.

[Goat]

Have you ever looked at the ten commandments and wonder what the hell was God thinking? Why did he put these ten things above all else? I can understand most of them, but certainly not all.

Just take a look at them:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any 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 thyself to 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;)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. 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 xxx, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

The first three commandments are all about God and if they are that important to him then it shows us what an insecure and jealous God he is (Note that jealousy is a sin). That’s 30% of the commandments! Is God’s ego that delicate that he had to include 3 commandments such as this? Then you have laws like “thou shalt not covet” which seems to be small fry in the sin department next to many other things. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” also seems to be a small fish in a big pond when things like rape and paedophilia seem to be given a very low priority.

So what about some of the other important stuff? Where are all the other commandments that would seem to be so incredibly important? Where is…?

Thou shalt not take another human being as a slave (You’d think God would take a harder line on this issue)

Thou shalt not rape (Sexual crimes seem to be unimportant as far as God’s concerned when it comes to the 10 commandments - apart from adultry. In fact the bible says God expects rape victims to marry their abusers)

Thou shalt not take drugs (or something like that. After all, God knows what will happen in the future and must have surely known it would become a major problem further down the line. He is either short sighted or has no knowledge of what will happen in the future.)

I am aware there are a lot of issues dealt with in other parts of the Torah relating to immoralities, however the 10 Commandments seem to stand out as God’s main issues and that is what I am trying to focus on here.

So my questions:
What commandments that haven't been included do you think should have been included and why?
Should any have been omitted? Why?
Should any have been reworded or elaborated more on?.

It was left incomplete on purpose , so man, using the learning process, can figure out on how to do RIGHT ... this little thing known as 'think for youself' so lacking in modern socieity

[cnorman18]

A bit of background information might be useful here. This is given from a Jewish point of view; but then, it was, after all, OUR book first.

The Ten Commandments were not, and are not, binding upon Gentiles, but only upon Jews. Since the Ten Words (as we call them) were the terms of a covenant, or contract, between God and the Jewish people, the first three Commandments concerning exclusive fidelity to God are perfectly logical and to be expected in that context.

For Jews, the Ten were (and are) only the beginning. There are a total of 613 commandments (note the small c), or mitzvot, which are also binding for us (the number is traditional; no one has ever compiled a definitive list). The prohibition of rape is, of course, among them. On the subject of slavery, I have written extensively elsewhere.
For ALL of humankind, there are only seven commandments, called the Laws of Noah. They are not the same.

The Laws of Noah, in no particular order (since none has ever been established) are:

1. The worship of idols is forbidden.

2. Blasphemy of God's name is forbidden.

3. Murder is forbidden.

4. Theft is forbidden.

5. Sexual immorality is forbidden (which is not specific to adultery, and includes rape).

6. Cruelty to animals (specifically, "eating the flesh of an animal while it is still living") is forbidden.

7. The establishment of a formal system of justice to enforce these laws is commanded.

Note that of the seven, only five are included in the Ten given to Jews. Gentiles are therefore under no obligation to worship God only, to keep the Sabbath, to honor their parents, to avoid false testimony, or to avoid covetousness.

Just thought this information might be relevant to the discussion.

Carry on.

[Beta]

I think we should be aware that the 10 commands were spoken by God Himself to the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (see EX.20) not all of which were from the tribe of Judah. At least 10 of the other tribes were NON_JEWISH seeing they had other ancestry. Non but the Jews have kept their identity and background intact but that does not negate the keeping of the commands for the lost tribes . Jesus came to seek that was lost and HE certainly upheld the Commandments of God for our example (IF indeed we are true followers of Christ).

[alexdocherty]

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

If he were truly the ONLY god in existence, surely he wouldn't recognise that there ARE other gods to be put before him?

Hmm.

[Beta]

The Creator-God is aware that mankind is riddled with false gods which we imagine , follow and obey.
God wrote the Commands for man , not himself. he already knows what is right and what is wrong - we don't.

[alexdocherty]

false gods

And how would you prove they're false? Can you prove 'He' is right? Can you prove 'He' isn't one of these alleged 'false' gods?

[daedalus 2.0]

false gods

And how would you prove they're false? Can you prove 'He' is right? Can you prove 'He' isn't one of these alleged 'false' gods?

Not to mention, it doesn't say "Thou shalt not have false Gods". It says:

"Of all the Gods that are out there, put me first."

[cnorman18]

The Book doesn't say "false gods"; it doesn"t say "real gods." it says "gods," period.

The unknown Yahwist source, the presumed author of this passage, wrote at a time when many gods with many names were worshipped throughout the Near East. Jews (at that time, Hebrews) were forbidden to worship any of them but YHWH, whether they were real or not. The consensus even at that time seems to have been that they weren't, and nothing in the Ten Words contradicts that.

I think it's a bit of a leap to assume that the Yahwist, or any of the other authors, editors or redactors of the Torah, thought that any of these other gods actually existed based on this passage. Forbidding the worship of other gods does not, in my mind, imply that they exist.

The Torah also forbids resorting to divination and fortunetelling. That doesn't imply that such practices are effective; I would think it more likely that it implies the opposite.

According to the tradition, Abraham himself denied the very existence of other gods from childhood. That was many generations before Sinai. The idea that there is only one actual, existent God has been pretty basic in Judaism from the very beginning.

In any case, as I wrote in an earlier post on this thread, from a Jewish point of view (and it is, after all, our Book), that Commandment does not apply to Gentiles, and is not binding upon them to this day. If any of you goyim want to worship Baal or Krishna, knock yourselves out (and that statement certainly doesn't imply that I believe those gods actually exist).

[daedalus 2.0]

Why would your God care if someone honored the God of Crops, whether that God existed or not? Why the bug up his a**?