Biblical Parallels Index – Shemot 20/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Shemot 20

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Decalogue Differences

The Decalogue appears in both the Torah's original account of the Revelation at Sinai in Shemot 20 and in Moshe's later retelling of the event in Devarim 5. The two versions contain many differences, including additions, omissions, and substitutions.

Tools

• Tanakh Lab – Use the Tanakh Lab to compare the two versions.

Articles

• See Decalogue Differences Between Shemot and Devarim for several approaches to the differences as discussed by commentators throughout the ages. Several medieval commentators assert that the discrepancies are insignificant and simply a natural outcome of Moshe's paraphrasing of Hashem's words, in which only the general meaning need be preserved. In contrast, many modern exegetes suggest that the Devarim rendition of the commandments constituted an intentional updating of the original Shemot version, as it was addressed to a different audience and set of circumstances. Midrashic sources posit a third approach, that the two Decalogues were both given simultaneously in the first year, and that both have legal relevance for all generations.

Revelation Hashem's revelation at Sinai is described at length in Shemot 19-20 and then recounted by Moshe to the nation in Devarim 4-5.

Tools

• Use the Tanakh Lab to compare the two sets of chapters from a linguistic perspective. Some of the differences between the accounts relate to the stated goal of the experience, the role of Moshe as intermediary and as lawgiver, and the emphasis (or lack thereof) on hearing but not seeing God.

Articles See Ma'amad Har Sinai in Shemot and Devarim for a table comparing the two accounts and analysis of the differences.  The articles suggests that on the eve of the people's entry into the land, Moshe had two fundamental concerns regarding the nation. He feared that with foreign influences, they would stop believing in Hashem and turn to other gods, and additionally, that even if they retained belief, they would question the authority of the laws transmitted via Moshe and be lax in their observance.  This agenda might account for the unique features of Moshe's retelling of the episode in Devarim 4-5

Attributes of God

Tools

• Makbilot Bamikra demonstrates that Hashem’s qualities of justice and mercy appear in several other places in the Torah. Interestingly, the emphasis in Shemot 20 is on Hashem’s quality of strict judgment, whereas in Shemot 34 His quality of mercy is described.

Articles

• See The First Tablets and the Second Tablets: The Differences Between Mishpatim and Ki Tisa, by R. Yoel Bin-Nun, for analysis of the meaning of this contrast between the passages in Shemot 20 and Shemot 34.