Exodus - 47 Lesson 4 - Exod. 20:1-2 - whose first commandment?
From LIGHT OF MENORAH by Rev John Ferret
May 4, 2026 · 39 min · Episode 232
About this episode
The episode explores the translation and interpretation of the Ten Commandments in the context of Exodus 20:1-17.
After the three introductory videos we now begin the study of Exod. 20:1-17 – the exact words of the Lord or as is known in the original Hebrew, עשׂרת הדברים Aseret HaDevareem, the Ten Words or better is the Ten Statements. We found in the introductory videos in Lesson 1 Part 1 and Part 2 there is no such thing as Ten Commandments in the original Hebrew. It was a mistranslation of the church in the late 1500’s. In Biblical Hebrew, the Ten Commandments, called עשרת הדיברות (transliterated aseret ha-dibrot by the rabbis but the actual is aseret ha-devareem), are mentioned at Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13 and Deuteronomy 10:4. In all sources, the terms are translatable as "the ten words", "the ten sayings", or "the ten matters". In the Septuagint (or LXX), the "ten words" was translated as "Decalogue", which is derived from Greek δεκάλογος, dekalogos, the latter meaning and referring to the Greek translation (in accusative) δέκα λόγους, deka logous. This term is also sometimes used in English, in addition to Ten Commandments. The Tyndale and Coverdale English biblical translations used "nine verses". The Geneva Bible used "ten commandments", which was followed by the Bishops'…
People in this episode
Host: Rev John Ferret
Topics covered
- Ten Commandments
- Biblical Hebrew
- Exodus
- Translation
- Religious Studies
- Christianity
Keywords
- Ten Commandments
- Exodus
- Aseret HaDevareem
- Biblical Hebrew
- translation
- Decalogue
- religion
- Christianity
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Exod. 20:1-17, Aseret HaDevareem, Decalogue, Geneva Bible, Bishops' Bible, Authorized Version, King James version
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