Memorize the 10 Commandments

In a TV-interview by Stephen Colbert back in June 2006 US-congressman Lynn Westmoreland was asked to name the 10 Commandments. According to this clip (see it on YouTube) he could remember only 3 out of ten. His press secretary later claimed that he actually could remember 7 out of 10 but the video had been edited.

While this could be forgivable for the average John Doe it was a little embarrasing for Mr. Westmoreland. He is the sponsor of a bill to display the 10 Commandments in the House of Representatives and co-cponsor of a bill to display it in American courthouses (Wikipedia). He should have known.

Disclaimers

1. This is for educational purposes only. No missionary intention whatsoever. The purpose of this text is helping people to know what the heck they are talking about.
2. There are different ways to count the 10 Commandments. I use the Jewish counting here because the Hebrew Man did it first. (more info on this)
3. The things I say in the following text are not theological claims but memorizing tricks.
4. This post is longer than usual. You may want to print it and read it offline.

Before we begin: Divide and conquer

For the sake of memorizing let’s divide the 10 commandments into two groups: 4 commandments about God (and our relation to Him) and 6 commandments about humans (and our relations among ourselves). This 4:6-division will help us with memorizing.

Okay, here we go!

One

I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

At first glance the first commandment doesn’t look like a “moral commandment” at all. It is the statement of metaphysical and historical facts.

Memorize: #1: facts.

Two

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.

In short: 1. No god but God. 2. Don’t make idols or pray to them.

You can derive the second commandment by logical deduction from the first commandment. The first one states a fact, the second one deducts the practical consequence, which is that you may have nor other gods nor may create or worship idols.

Memorize: #2: deduction.

(Sidenote: Most Christian traditions have taken the no-idols part and declared that the first commandment. The don’t-pray-to-them part then becomes the second commandment.)

Three

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.

In the third commandment a thing comes into play that some call our connection to the divine: Words.

In the beginning we divided the 10 Commandments into groups of 4 and 6. The first group deals with God and human relations to Him. So combine the thought of Him and “words”, the result then is: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.”

Memorize: #1: facts. #2: deduction. #3: words.

Four

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, 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 on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The memorizing trick: We have had 3 commandments so far. This is the 4th. 3+4=7. The seventh day here is the “sabbath”. I know that this trick is strange and has nothing to do with the text. Again: This is for memorization only.

(Sidenote: What does the 4th commandment say about weekends?)

We have finished the first group of 4 commandments dealing with God. Please repeat before you continue!

Memorize: #1: facts. #2: deduction. #3: words. #4: 3+4=7 .

Five

Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

The fifth commandment is the first one of the second group. This group (commandments 5 to 10) deals with us humans and our relations among each other. Where do humans come from? (In a biological sense, that is.) From their parents. The first commandment of the second group begins with the thought of honouring your parents.

There was something special with the very first commandment (stating of a fact). There is something special with the fifth commandment too: It is the only commandment with a promise: If you honour your parents your days will be long.

Memorize: #5: Origins of existence.

Six

Thou shalt not murder.

Commandment #5 promised “long days”. What is the prerequisite for everyone having a long life? That we don’t kill each other.

Memorize: #6: Don’t end existence.

Seven

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Commandments #7 and #8 are something like “forward echos” of the commandments #5 and #6 before. You remember that the fifth commandment dealt with family and honouring your parents. The prerequisite of having something that actually can be called a “family” is that the parents don’t commit adultery.

Memorize: #7: (Echo of #5) Lay moral groundwork of family (i.e. “don’t sleep around”).

Eight

Thou shalt not steal.

This one again is something like a “forward echo”. You remember that #6 forbids to murder. Most murders happen in context of robbery. Therefore: Don’t steal. If you don’t, your chances of having to murder someone sink rapidly.

Memorize: #8: (Echo of #6) Don’t lay groundwork for murder (by stealing).

Nine

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

You remember that in #3 words came into play. 3 times 3 is 9. This is the ninth commandment and words come into play again. Interestingly the ninth commandment doesn’t exatly state that thou shalt not lie as most simplified version have it. For now it suffices to memorize: Co-Humans + “Words” = “Don’t bear false witness.”

Memorize: #9: Humans + Words

Ten

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

You can memorize the tenth commandment as the one commandment that Buddhists have taken to the extreme. The Bible says something along the lines of “don’t try to keep up with the Joneses“, the buddhists say “to want is the root of all evil”.

Memorize: #10: Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses, don’t even want it.

That’s it! You may want to repeat this exercise tommorrow to make sure that it stays in your head. Again: This is neither theology nor evangelizing. I don’t even think that the 10 Commandments as they are apply to Non-Jews. (You may want to try the Noahide Laws instead.) Todays Shtikl.com-posting is intended for educational purposes only.

The Bible-verses used come from the Mechon Mamre Project’s website. You can check out the original Hebrew wording here.

And, finally: Steven Fettig, thanks for that coffee!