The Ten Commandments and Their Two Categories

1Why this topic matters

Ask ten Rwandan Christians to recite the Ten Commandments and most of them can. Many learned them in Sunday school or catechism class. Yet a Catholic and an Anglican may give different numbers to the same commandment, and a Muslim will point to a passage of the Qur'an with very similar commands. In this lesson you will learn the commandments, how they are grouped, and how Islam teaches the same duties.

2The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17)

The commandments begin with a reminder of what God had done: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." (Exodus 20:2). Bondage means slavery. Then come the commands themselves. Christian churches divide the same verses into ten in two main ways:

Word meanings: an idol is an image made to be worshipped; to misuse God's name is to use it carelessly or falsely, for example in a false oath; the Sabbath is the seventh day, set apart for rest and worship; adultery is sexual unfaithfulness by a married person; false testimony means lying about someone, especially as a witness; to covet is to desire greedily what belongs to someone else. Catholics and Lutherans divide the command against coveting into two (coveting a neighbour's wife, and coveting a neighbour's goods), so they still count ten.

Most Christians keep Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, as their holy day; Seventh-day Adventists keep the Sabbath on Saturday.

3The two categories

The commandments fall into two groups, often pictured as the two stone tablets:

1. Duties towards God: no other gods, no idols, respect for God's name, and keeping the holy day. (Numbers 1–3 for Catholics and Lutherans; 1–4 for most other churches.)
2. Duties towards other people: honouring parents, and not murdering, committing adultery, stealing, lying about others or coveting. (Numbers 4–10, or 5–10.)

Jesus summed up both groups when he was asked for the greatest commandment. He quoted: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37), then added: "A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:39–40)

Notice too that two commandments are positive (they say what to do: keep the Sabbath, honour parents) and the rest are negative (they say "You shall not…").

4The same duties in Islam

The Qur'an does not number ten commandments, but many Muslim scholars see Qur'an 6:151–153 as a restatement of them:

"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, and that ye slay not your children because of penury—We provide for you and for them—and that ye draw not nigh to lewd things whether open or concealed. And that ye slay not the life which Allah hath made sacred, save in the course of justice." (Qur'an 6:151)

"And approach not the wealth of the orphan save with that which is better, till he reach maturity. Give full measure and full weight, in justice. … And if ye give your word, do justice thereunto, even though it be (against) a kinsman; and fulfil the covenant of Allah." (Qur'an 6:152)

Word meanings: ascribe no thing as partner unto Him means "do not worship anything beside God"; penury is poverty; draw not nigh to lewd things means "do not go near shameful sexual sins"; a kinsman is a relative. The next verse says: "This is My straight path, so follow it." (Qur'an 6:153)

Muslim scholars also group duties in two: the rights of God (huquq Allah), such as worshipping God alone, and the rights of people (huquq al-'ibad), such as kindness to parents, honesty and respect for life and property. So both faiths put God first and then teach duties towards other people.

Worked example

Question: Name the two categories of the Ten Commandments and give two commandments in each. (4 marks)

Model answer: The first category is duties towards God (1 mark), for example "You shall have no other gods before me" and "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (1 mark). The second category is duties towards other people (1 mark), for example "Honour your father and your mother" and "You shall not steal" (1 mark).

Practice