Deuteronomy 5

Literally, Horeb. Horeb is a Hebrew word that can mean “dry,” “desolate,” or “desert.” But here, it’s a name. Most Bible scholars say it’s an alternate name for Mount Sinai—much like “Zion” is another name for “Jerusalem.”

Verse 22 confirms that this wasn’t the message Moses delivered. It was the message the people heard God saying in “his loud voice.”

The Ten Commandments are unique because they are said to come directly from God, with the people listening to God presenting them in a dramatic speech. There are plenty of ancient laws from what is now the Middle East. Some written by kings. Some from common practice. None from a talking god. Also interesting, the first half the laws focus on the people’s attitude and behavior toward God (verses 6-16). The other half (verses 17-21) focuses on human relationships. People can’t focus on one set of the laws and ignore the other. Honoring God involves treating each other fairly, and with respect.

“LORD,” usually printed in all capital letters, is a name of God that appears around 7,000 times in the Christian Bible, which makes it the most common way of referring to God.  The lower-case “Lord” is a translation of the Hebrew word Adonai. It refers to God as our master, our life coach, or the boss. He’s in charge of us, and we try to obey him. “LORD” is the spelling most Bibles use when the writer refers to the name of God. Moses asked God what his name was, and God said Moses should tell the Israelite ancestors of the Jews that his name is “I AM” (3:14). In the original Hebrew language, the name is spelled with only consonants—no vowels. It’s an ancient shorthand, to save hides used to make scrolls. The name is YHWH. Without knowing which vowels, most scholars have settled on YAHWEH, pronounced YAH-way. For those freaky enough to wonder if it’s possible that God might have the name of YAHWHO, no. Hebrew linguist Dr. Joseph Coleson, Old Testament professor emeritus at Nazarene Theological Seminary, said, “No Semitic language ever would allow all three root letters [HWH] to occur in succession together, in any form of any root, without vowels to break them up.” God’s name is so sacred to many Jews that they refuse to speak it. Instead, they’ll use names that describe the character of God, such as Adonai, which means “my Lord.” They won’t even write the name. In English, they’ll spell the name G-d.

Jews observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday night through sundown Saturday. Most Christians worship on Sunday, the day of the week Jesus rose from the dead.

More literally, treat the Sabbath as “holy.” People or objects such as worship center utensils are considered “holy” when they are devoted to God and reserved for his use or purpose. Christian writers such as Paul said the death and resurrection of Jesus, “marks the end of Jewish Law. Rules the Jews observed are now obsolete” (Ephesians 2:15). See also Hebrews 8:7-13, which ends with this statement about a new agreement God made with humanity, through the ministry of Jesus: “It replaced the old agreement, which became obsolete and is already on the verge of disappearing.” The writers don’t argue that the most basic laws are obsolete, such as the Ten Commandments. Instead, they’re talking about laws that set Jews apart from others, such as laws about circumcision and kosher food. Some scholars argue that tithing is part of that group of obsolete laws. Christians didn’t start hearing sermons about tithing until the 1800s, when it started as a fundraising experiment. Under the new agreement, the New Testament, there’s no difference between Jews and non-Jews: “We’re not Jews or non-Jews. We’re not slaves or free folk. We’re not men or women. We’re one people, united in Jesus, the Messiah” (Galatians 3:28).

This is a different rationale for observing the Sabbath than we read in Exodus 20:11. There, the rationale is about God resting after working six days to create everything that exists. He rested on the seventh day.

This might make more sense after reading Exodus 21:17. It was a capital offense to disrespect parents.

The original Hebrew word, rasah, can also mean: murder, execute, or commit unintentional manslaughter.