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    The Ten Commandments: A Commentary
    The Ten Commandments: A Commentary
    The Ten Commandments: A Commentary
    Ebook77 pages1 hour

    The Ten Commandments: A Commentary

    By Daniel Kreller

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    About this ebook

    As an Episcopal priest, I was motivated to write this book on the Ten Commandments after a visitation by our Bishop to our parish. The Bishop inquired of the congregation if they thought the Ten Commandments were important. Every hand went up to affirm they were. He then asked if they could name them. No hand was raised. I then undertook to write on the commandments to use for instruction with my parishioners.

    The present work is a revision of the original written some time ago. I use Everett Fox’s translation of the Commandments from The Five Books of Moses because it retains the Hebraic quality of the original. In the Forward I discuss the historical and cosmic settings of the Commandments, the analogy of the covenant between God and Israel to marriage, and the divisions of the Commandments. I then list the Commandments with commentary drawn from Rabbinical sources, my own reflections, and illustrate them with pertinent Biblical stories. Throughout, I relate the Commandments to Jesus’ teachings. And finally, in the Afterword I briefly discuss the relationship between Law and Spirit, which has been much debated in the church down through the centuries ever since the Jesus movement moved beyond its Jewish origins into the Gentile world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDaniel Kreller
    Release dateJan 24, 2015
    ISBN9781310906305
    The Ten Commandments: A Commentary
    Author

    Daniel Kreller

    The son of a Baptist minister, I was ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1977. I studied for the ministry at Princeton, General, and Union Seminaries. I served as a parish priest for 40 years. I have a particular interest in the healing ministry and the Jewish roots of Christianity. I am married and have a grown son and daughter.

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      Book preview

      The Ten Commandments - Daniel Kreller

      The Ten Commandments

      A Commentary

      The Rev. Daniel W. Kreller

      Published by Daniel W. Kreller at Smashwords

      Copyright 2015 Daniel W. Kreller

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Forward

      The Cosmic Context of the Ten Commandments

      The Analogy of Marriage

      The Division of the Ten Commandments

      The Ten Commandments 1

      2

      3

      4

      5

      Introduction to the Second Division

      6

      7

      8

      9

      10

      Afterword

      Resources

      Cover Art

      About the author

      Introduction

      Some years ago the Bishop was visiting our congregation. In his sermon he asked for a show of hands of how many felt the Ten Commandments were important. All raised their hands. Then he asked how many could name all ten. Now no hands were raised including mine. Like my parishioners I wasn’t confident I could name all ten, at least not in the order they are given in the scriptures. That embarrassing moment prompted me to study the commandments for myself and prepare a study guide for my parishioners. This present guide is a revision of the original. It is by no means exhaustive but I hope suggestive of the richness to be found in the commandments sufficient to pique the reader’s further exploration.

      * * * * *

      Foreword

      The Historical Context of the Ten Commandments

      In the Biblical narrative the Ten Commandments are first given to the people of Israel through Moses after they went out (the Exodus) from Egypt roughly 3,300 years ago. This occurred in the spring of the year and is remembered annually in the Passover Festival. Fifty days later the people arrived at Mount Sinai and encamped there. Moses ascended the mountain and over a 40 day period received the Law as it is recorded in the Torah, the first 5 books of the Hebrew Testament.

      This arrival at Sinai and the receiving of the Law is remembered annually in the festival called Shavuos. Shavuos means weeks and refers to the 7 weeks (49 days) that are counted from Passover until this festival that is celebrated on the 50th day. In Greek the festival is called Pentecost, meaning the 50th day. Together these festivals memorialize the events that founded Israel as a nation that was devoted to serving Yahweh alone.

      But as yet they were a nation without a land. All that remained was for Israel to decamp from Sinai and journey onward to the land that had been promised to them through their forefather Abraham. The first generation of the exodus balked at the prospect of entering the land and so it was the second generation that entered the land 40 years later. The entry into the land occasioned a recounting of the Law by Moses to the new generation as he turned the leadership of the nation over to Joshua. Thus, there are two versions of the Ten Commandments, the first in Exodus 20 given at Sinai, and the second in Deuteronomy 5 given as the people were encamped at Beth Peor in the Transjordan.

      Once the people did occupy the land, the Law contained in the Torah served as the supreme law for Israel to live as one nation under Yahweh’s rule. The Ten Commandments, however, are accorded a special place as can been seen from the fact that they were written on stone tablets given to Moses and placed within the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, which stood in the inner sanctuary of first the Tabernacle and then the Temple, served as the footstool for Yahweh’s throne. His throne was in the heavens but his feet rested upon the Ark on earth. One can think of the Ten Commandments as the root that nourishes and sustains all the other laws.

      In summary, the context of the Ten Commandments can be explained with four words – covenant, exodus, law, and land. Through the covenant Yahweh made with Abraham Israel was conceived as nation. Israel was created as a nation at their exodus from Egypt. Israel was formed as a nation through the giving of the Law. Finally, Israel reached completion as a nation living under the rule of Yahweh and his law in the land of Israel.

      * * * * *

      The Cosmic Context of the Ten Commandments

      The historical context of the Ten Commandments might suggest that they are relevant only for the nation of Israel. This is not the case. The Hebrew Scriptures testify that through Abraham Israel has a vocation to bless all the nations of the earth (Genesis 22). Israel blesses the nations by bearing witness to the truth that Yahweh is the creator of all and harmony, shalom (peace), is established by submitting to his will. His will is revealed in the Torah and most especially in the Ten Commandments.

      In the Biblical account of creation Yahweh brings existence and order to all things when there was nothing but a formless void. This he does with ten sayings and he pronounces his work exceedingly good. But in the Biblical narrative no sooner is the cosmos ordered in goodness than it begins to revert back to chaos. The order and harmony between the various realms of creation begins to fracture. So beings in the invisible spiritual realm no longer help man but tempt him to stray from communion with Yahweh. Man, who likewise is viewed as a help to the creatures who were created with him, lords it over them. Women’s bodies betray them and they bear children in pain. The earth betrays man and will only produce for him with the sweat of his brow. Even the exalted spiritual beings of the invisible realm represented by the serpent must eat the dust of the ground. What began as the glorious liberty of a fully integrated and functioning cosmos, devolves into a disintegrating cosmos marked by bondage.

      Here is where the historical and cosmic contexts of the Ten Commandments intersect. The bondage of Israel in Egypt bespeaks a cosmos returned to a formless void. It has the appearance of something

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