The Decalogue – Division and Design
Introduction
No Numbers
Depictions of the tablets with the Decalogue adorn innumerable synagogues and arks, with the vast majority of these dividing the ten utterances in the same way. The first listed is generally: "I am your God...", the next: "Do not have other gods besides me...", and the third: "Do not take my name in vain", and so on until the tenth, "Do not covet..." From a simple reading of the verses, however, this well known division is not at all clear. Though several verses1 state explicitly that "עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים" (ten utterances) were written on the tablets, no where are these numbered, leaving ambiguity as to both what is included and where each begins and ends. What are the various possible divisions and how does each choice affect one's understanding of the various statements?
Command or Proclamation?
Several exegetical questions, mainly involving Shemot 20: 2-5, form the core of the dispute. A first set of difficulties relates to the first words uttered by Hashem during revelation:
אָנֹכִי י״י אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים.
"I am Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "You shall have no other gods before me.
This sentence stands out from the rest of Hashem's speech in that it is not formulated in the imperative, but as a declaration. Does it nonetheless constitute a command to believe in God? Is belief even something that be commanded, or are emotions and beliefs not under a person's control? If the statement does not constitute a directive, might it still be counted as one of the ten utterances, or must each utterance be also a command?2 Finally, if these words act simply as an introduction, what do they introduce: only the immediately following statement "Do not have other gods", all of the verses which deal with idolatry, or perhaps the entire Decalogue?
"לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ... מִצְוֺתָי"
After Hashem's declaration that he is God who took the nation out of Egypt, he speaks of prohibitions related to idolatry:
(ב) ...לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל פָּנָי. (ג) לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל וְכׇל תְּמוּנָה אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וַאֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת וַאֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ. (ד) לֹא תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לָהֶם וְלֹא תׇעׇבְדֵם...
(2) "I am Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "You shall have no other gods before me. (3) You shall not make for yourselves an idol or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (4) You shall not bow down to them and you shall not serve them, for I, Hashem your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
The verses prohibit both "other gods" and "idols". Are these somewhat synonymous terms, both referring to foreign deities, or does the prohibition against making idols include also making images of God Himself? The verses further mention four different verbs, prohibiting one from "having", "making," bowing" and "worshiping". How many distinct commandments do these comprise? Does each action stand on its own or are they all subsumed under one general prohibition of idolatry? Might some be connected to one another while others are independent?3 Depending on how one answers these questions, the verses might comprise one, two, three, or four prohibitions, and thus, perhaps, too, anywhere from one to four different "utterances".