The Ten Commandments (idea)

To say that there were but 10 commandments is sort of a simplification of the will of God as dictated in the Old Testament, really. In fact, God issued forth to the Hebrews many, many commands through his profit Moses, but the first 10 are often considered first and foremost. And unfortunately for theologists, philosophers and historians, Moses smashed the first tablets after he beheld the Hebrews worshiping an idol of a golden calf. The details of this story, of course, can be found in Exodus 32.

Reprinted here are what were supposedly on the 10 shattered relics (well, according to the Exodus 20 and Blaaf):

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; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in taking God's name in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it 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: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it (or so goes Genesis 1).
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
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.

Now, there are difficulties with this translation; for one, the third commandment depends on your definition of "the name of the LORD". If Jesus is considered the lord, few pronounce his name properly anyway, so if God has the sentiment of an English teacher one should be fine pronouncing it the way they always have, which is not his true name; More importantly, it referes to YHWH or YHVH, of which the Hebrew referred to as Adonai. Jehovah is the modern botched translation of both YWHW (not spoken) and Adonai (read more on this subject over at God Is Not God's Name). Again, if god gives a darn about pronunciation all are fine, as any modern reference would be a far cry from a proper ancient Hebrew annunciation.

Additionally, it is very hard to follow the 4 commandment, as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are each said to be the sabbath by Islam, Jewish Tradition, and Christianity, respectively.

Thou shalt not kill is a little broad, as General Wesc points out. He suggests that it be changed to #6. Thou shalt not murder (the most accurate Hebrew Translation by far). Perhaps, but non the less it is general consensus that it is "Thou shalt not kill". Whether or not it is Commandment #6 is actual very disputable. The following are the Jewish and Catholic Commandments (a far cry from the protestant King James Translation!):

1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Remember thou keep the Sabbath Day.
4. Honor thy Father and thy Mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods.

Essentially, the 10 Catholic commandments are what Papal system decree, as mass has only recently been done in vernacular instead of Latin. RST points out that #9 could easily be a duplicate of #6; the main difference is that looking upon another with lust in one's heart is adultery, and looking upon a neighbors wife and wishing for what fecundity she may have is an entirely different issue all together (I think).

Hebrew

1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
2. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of 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 unto 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; And showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath in honour of the Lord thy God; on it thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother; in order that thy days may be prolonged upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
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 neighbor.
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.

With the exception of the first two commandments, however, the Hebrew Commandments are essentially the same as the modern Protestant. Even these, however, are not very accurate translations of the actual Hebrew. For a good analysis of the Hebrew of these commandments, go to http://www.levitt.com/hebrew/commandments.html; I have provided a simplified but more accurate translation here:

1. I am the Lord your God.
2. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD your God in vain (as in vanity).
4. Remember the Sabbath day (the day of rest), to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou shalt not murder.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear witness to falsity against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet (anything, period.)

So in essence, if going by even leniant Hebrew translations, everybody is wrong. However, it isn't really in the spirit of the commandments, which preach piety, honesty, and innocense.

The rest of the story goes that the remains of the original tablets found their way to the Sacred Arc of the Covenant. A few days later, God was kind enough to Moses to cover the tablets he broke in anger with the biblical equivalent of a warranty repair. These are supposed to be better documented, the *REAL* 10 commandments (taken from K. Budde, History of Ancient Hebrew Literature; you may of course see the King James versions at Exodus 34):

1. Thou shalt worship no other god (For the Lord is a jealous god).
2. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
3. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep in the month when the ear is on the corn.
4. All the first-born are mine.
5. Six days shalt thou work, but on the seventh thou shalt rest.
6. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, even of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.
7. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread.
8. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.
9. The first of the first fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God.
10. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.

Hehe, and then there are the 10 punishments, compiled by Compiled by Jyoti Shankar, Bubbles Online Magazine.

1. Ex. 22:20: He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
2. Lev. 24:16: And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death.
3. Ex. 31:15: Whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
4. Ex. 21:15: He that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
5. Ex. 21:17: He that curseth his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
6. Ex. 22:19: Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
7. Lev. 20:13: If a man lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have com-mitted an abomination: they shall surely be put to death.
8. Lev. 20:10: And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
9. Mark 16:16: He that believeth not, shall be damned.
10. Mal. 2:1-4: And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, ... behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces.

I think if someone could tell me where the heck the sources are for this stuff I would be much obliged. Thou shalt not cut and paste write-ups, normally.