Ten Commandments of God
Primary 4 · Social and Religious Studies
Ten Commandments of God
Lesson 1 of 5
15 min
On the first day of term, the P4 teacher asks her class to agree on rules. Uwase says, "Don't take other people's things." Habimana says, "Always tell the truth." Keza says, "Respect the teacher." The teacher smiles. "Good rules help everyone to live well together. Did you know that God gave people rules like these a very long time ago?"
In Rwanda, Christians and Muslims live, learn and play side by side. In this unit you will read what each faith teaches, in its own words. Learning about each other's faith helps us to respect one another.
A commandment is an order or a rule given by someone with authority. God's commandments are the rules God gave to guide people to live good lives, with God and with each other.
The Bible tells how the prophet Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. At Mount Sinai, God gave Moses ten commandments, written on two tablets of stone:
"When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant, stone tablets, written with God's finger."
(Exodus 31:18, World English Bible)
The Ten Commandments are written in Exodus 20:1–17, and again in Deuteronomy 5. Here they are, in the words of the World English Bible:
| The commandment (Exodus 20) | What it means | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "You shall have no other gods before me." (verse 3) | Worship the one true God only. |
| 2 | "You shall not make for yourselves an idol…" (verse 4) | Do not make or worship statues as gods. |
| 3 | "You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God…" (verse 7) | Speak God's name with respect. |
| 4 | "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." (verse 8) | Keep a holy day for rest and worship. |
| 5 | "Honor your father and your mother…" (verse 12) | Respect and obey your parents and care for them. |
| 6 | "You shall not murder." (verse 13) | Protect human life. |
| 7 | "You shall not commit adultery." (verse 14) | Husbands and wives must stay faithful to each other. |
| 8 | "You shall not steal." (verse 15) | Respect what belongs to others. |
| 9 | "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." (verse 16) | Do not tell lies about other people. |
| 10 | "You shall not covet your neighbor's house…" (verse 17) | Do not be greedy for what belongs to others. |
Yahweh is the Hebrew name of God. Many English Bibles write "the LORD" instead. Kinyarwanda Bibles say Uwiteka.
Good to know: Churches count the same words in two ways. Many Protestant churches count them as in the table. The Catholic Church joins the first two into one commandment and splits the last one into two. The words are the same; only the numbers change. Most Christians keep Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead, as their holy day, while Seventh-day Adventists keep the Sabbath on Saturday.
Muslims honour Musa (Moses) as a great prophet of Allah. Allah gave him the Tawrat (the Torah), and the Qur'an says it was written on tablets:
"And We wrote for him, upon the tablets, the lesson to be drawn from all things and the explanation of all things…"
(Qur'an 7:145, translated by Marmaduke Pickthall)
The Qur'an itself gives commands that are very like the Ten Commandments. One list begins:
"Say: Come, I will recite unto you that which your Lord hath made a sacred duty for you: That ye ascribe no thing as partner unto Him and that ye do good to parents…"
(Qur'an 6:151, translated by Marmaduke Pickthall)
The same passage goes on to forbid taking a life "which Allah hath made sacred", to protect "the wealth of the orphan", to "give full measure and full weight, in justice", and to keep your word (Qur'an 6:151–152). For their weekly day of worship, Muslims gather for the Friday prayer (Jumu'ah) at the mosque.
Tip
Count on your fingers! Hold up both hands: the ten fingers remind you of the ten commandments. Some are about loving God, and the rest are about loving other people.
Answer: An order or rule given by someone with authority. God's commandments guide people to live good lives.
Answer: To Moses, at Mount Sinai.
Answer: Exodus 20 (and again in Deuteronomy 5).
Answer: Musa; he was given the Tawrat (Torah).
Answer: Any two of: worship Allah alone, do good to parents, do not take a sacred life, protect the orphan's wealth, give full measure, keep your word.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
The Qur'an verses not yet transcribed on Wikisource were checked word for word against a scan of the 1930 first edition (Internet Archive). The explanations around the scripture passages are written by Ganzaa.
Quick check
The Bible tells that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Where?
