See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/273130579

10 Commandments or 10 Promises?

Conference Paper · October 2012

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1470.8007

CITATIONS READS

0 5,799

1 author:

Mabio Coelho
Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo
2 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Mabio Coelho on 05 March 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 10 Commandments or 10 Promises?
Mabio Coelho
Being from a legalistic, although not deeply religious, upbringing, once I accepted the gospel of
Jesus Christ, I still had questions about Grace and Law which I could not conciliate both. A little
while ago, I was reading one devotional (i.e., one of those books with little one page readings to
start up your day), where I found the following phrase that immediately caught my attention: “The
ten commandments, Thou shalt, and Thou shalt not, are ten promises assured to us if we render
obedience to the law governing the universe.”1 That made me think and I went to study and
research what was the real meaning of this biblical passage, which is so important that God wrote
with His own finger twice (Exodus 31:18 and 34:1).
On this processes, through academic research and prayer, several important questions were raised:
How do we read then? Are they our surrounding wall to protect us or to keep us enslaved inside?
Are those a set of prescriptions we should follow or promises assured by God? Should we take then
seriously?
This article try to articulate and summarize my findings, providing scriptural evidence for it.

The context of the Ten Commandments

In order to better understand the Decalogue we have to study the context, i.e. the text Exodus 20,
where it was given to the people. The first thing comes to mind is that, although everything through
Exodus 1-19 seems to set stage, prepare and complement the Decalogue2, and immediately
following it there is “a group of laws of mixed character that scholars have designated 'the
Covenant Code' or 'Book of the Covenant. It is noteworthy, in that perspective, that the Decalogue's
prologue (the words prior to the enunciation of the first commandment, in Exodus 20:1-2) sets
clearly the motivation of why God gave the law by saying: “And God spoke all these words[‫דבר‬,
the Hebrew word for “word” but also to “promise” or “command”], saying: I am the Lord your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
Stands out from the prologue the fact that the Decalogue came about, from the notion of a personal
and loving God who redeemed his people, as a symbol of freedom from slavery and servitude, a
symbol of redemption. Looking through that prism, the Decalogue (or 10 words, as it is called in
Hebrew), far from being a legalistic device to fuel a new kind of bondage, serves “not only to chart
the outer boundary, but also to provide positive content for life within the circle of the covenant.
The Decalogue looks both outward and inward; it guards against the way of death and points to the
way of life”3. It points out to a per-existing relationship between Israel and God.
When one analyzes the first 19 chapters of Exodus we see the progression of this relationship: (1)
God is faithful because he freed His people from Egypt, as promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:13,
14; cf. Exodus 12:40, 41; (2) He is all-powerful and nothing can stop him to accomplish His will,
not even the oppressive power of Pharaoh, whose firstborn was killed because his unbelief (Exodus
1-19); (3) The Egyptian god where no match for the God Almighty and was clearly God's design
choosing the 10 plagues (chapters 7 though 11) that clearly challenged (and won) the highest deities
of Egypt4. This was also done in such way that could touch the hearts of the Egyptians, bringing

1 Ellen Gould Harmon White, Sons and Daughters of God (Review and Herald Pub Assoc, 1983), 56.
2 Umberto Cassuto, A commentary on the book of Exodus (reprint.; Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University,
1967), 256.
3 Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary (Louisville, KY: Westminster John
Knox Press, 2004), 398.
4 For more information on that topic, please read Peter T. Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch: An Exegetical Handbook
(Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2009), 65–66; Dr Roy B. Zuck and Donald K. Campbell, Basic Bible
then to repentance. The results of that can be seem in the several occasion that Pharaoh himself
asked Moses to pray for him (Exodus 8:8, 28; 9:27, 28; 10:16, 17), and in the multitude of people
that made the congregation on the desert, with the native-born Israelites, were non-hebrew people
who accepted to follow YHWH (Exodus 12:37-38, 49; cf 16:1); (4) By being always ahead of the
people on the column of smoke, on daylight, and on the column of fire, at night, God was teaching
the people that he was the visible leader of Israel (Exodus 13:21-22) ; (5);The experience of having
a gentle leader, which abode in the columns of fire/cloud, such thing they never saw in Egypt, was
an amazing teaching device to teach God wanted to be amidst His people (Exodus 13:21-22, cf
Exodus 25:8); (6) Dividing the red sea, YHWH sent the message that He is more powerful than the
nature and its laws (Exodus 14:1–22; in fact in the very heart of the Decalogue, 20:11, He revels
himself as the Creator of everything); (7) God is the Provider and He makes this clear by
providing water from the rocks (Exodus 17:1–6) and providing the mannah (16:1-36) to the entire
multitude in the desert (more than 600,000 men, not counting women and children; cf 12:37); (8)
By giving water in , which was previously bitter but miraculously purified by God, in Marah
(Exodus 15:22–26)YHWH shows Himself as the Healer of His people; (9) By raising his hands,
under God's direction, Moses brought victory over the Amalekites (17:8-16) showing that YHWH
fights the battles for his people; (10) Now the same true God who delivered them invites the people
to enter in a relationship with Him (Exodus 19:4-6), which lead the reader to the Decalogue's
prologue, which show that His deliverance is the very cause of Israel's, both of Hebrew and non-
Hebrew (the mixed bunch that came out from Egypt in Exodus 12:37-38), obedience.
The background above hints to Gods intention to inspire His people to enter in a trust-based
covenant with Him(Exodus 14:31; cf. Numbers 20:12 ). The Ten Words then where given not as
conditions for then submit in order to be accepted but as proof they had been already redeemed. In
that kind of relationship one would honor his/her parents (5th commandment) because they learned
that, by placing the parents in His place, He will accomplish his works through them; they will
“never steal”(4th commandment) because God is his/her provider and they will have no need (see
one example in (Jeremiah 31:32; cf. Matthew 7:7; James 4:2).

Grammatical and terminological Aspects

When reading an ancient text we have to keep in mind that read in a modern language today was
written centuries ago, by people with different though processes, and passed sometimes by multiple
translations, we may realize that, particularly in old translations that did not come from the original
languages, in some specifics cases we may be reading something different than the original author
wrote. Even when we read a modern Bible version, which is derived directly from the best
available Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) texts, we may still find
occasions where some instance where translations were made with the Today easterner's though
patterns rather than from a middle-westerner's mind of thousands of years ago. One classical
example is the phrase “ten commandments”. Such phrase does not appear on the Hebrew Bible, but
in some modern popular vernacular translations, both in English and Portuguese, it appears 3 times
on the Old Testament (Exodus. 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4)5. The word translated as
commandment used by Moses is derived from the Hebrew root ‫( דבר‬dabar is the Hebrew for

Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2002), 62;
both available on Google books.
5 The above facts are true for all the translations we verified: New International Version, New English Translation,
King James Version, New King James Version, 21st Century King James, and New American Standard Bible, in
English and João Ferreira de Almeida (JFA) Revista e Corrigida, JFA Revista e Atualizada (Deut. 4:13; 10:4 only,
Exodus. 34:28 translates correctly, “ten words”), and Nova Versão Internacional, in Portuguese. For dynamic
translations like the Good News Translation, in English, or the Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, in
Portuguese there are more references in “explicative” phrases added to the text (e.g, Exodus 38:21 and 40:3, in both
translations).
“word”) and not ‫( מצוה‬miṣwah is the biblical Hebrew for commandment) and its derivatives, which
appear over 180 times on the Masoretic Text. That is, perhaps, why the Ten Commandments are
introduced, in Exodus 20:1, as words: “God spoke, and these were his words:”6. Moses also
reports, in Deuteronomy 5:22, the he read “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly”. God
himself is reported saying that He would “write on the tablets the words that were on the first
tablets” (Deuteronomy 10:2). That is some evidence that God gave us the Ten Words (or, in other
words, Decalogue), not Ten Commandments. When one observes that the Hebrew “dabar” also
means “promise”, and is rendered that way in many places on translations of The Old Testament.
This may hint that God, and Moses, understood the Decalogue as “ten promises”.
Another indication of that understanding is on the grammatical structure of the Decalogue. All the
verbs related with the actions of the 10 assumed do's and don't's are on the second person,
masculine, singular imperfect (i.e., one incomplete action, which may have started and is in course)
as opposed to the perfect (which would be a complete action). With this in mind, the opening
sentence of the Decalogue (the first word), could be literally translated as: “I am the Lord your God
who has brought you out of the land of the Egypt, you have no other gods greater than I ” (Gen.
20:2-3).
On this verse, and on the others that start on the negative (popularly know as negative
commandments), the structure starts with and negative form ‫( לא‬lo is Hebrew negative of what
follows) followed by a verb on the imperfect (as previously mentioned). To expand on that
structure, here is the analysis of the Hebrew scholar Jeffrey Benner7 of some of those verses:
‫( ללא‬lo)
This word negates the following verb.
‫צח‬‫תרר צ‬
‫( ת‬tir-tsahh)
The base word is the verb ‫( צרח‬tsarahh) meaning “to kill,” or more correctly, “to
murder.” The prefix ‫ ת‬identifies the verb tense as imperfect - will murder - and the
subject of the verb as second person, masculine, singular - you will murder. Because of
the preceding word this would be translated as “you will not murder.”
‫( ללא‬lo)
This word negates the following verb.

‫אף‬‫תנ ר צ‬
‫( ת‬tin-aph)
The base word is the verb ‫( נאף‬na’aph) meaning “to commit adultery.” The prefix ‫ת‬
identifies the verb tense as imperfect - will commit adultery - and the subject of the verb
as second person, masculine, singular - you will commit adultery. Because of the
preceding word this would be translated as “you will not commit adultery.”
‫( ללא‬lo)
This word negates the following verb.
‫תג רלנב‬
‫( ת‬tig-nov)
The base word is the verb ‫( גנב‬ganav) meaning “to steal.” The prefix ‫ ת‬identifies the
verb tense as imperfect - will steal - and the subject of the verb as second person,
masculine, singular - you will steal. Because of the preceding word this would be
translated as “you will not steal.”
According with the above explanation, a literal translation of the verse would be: “You will not

6 Quotes extracted from the New King James Version.

7 Jeff A. Benner, “Verse of the Month – Exodus 20:13-15,” Ancient Hebrew Research Center’s Biblical Hebrew E-
Magazine, August 2007, http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/emagazine/039.html.
 murder, You will not commit adultery, You will not steal.”
Looking only on the grammatical side, although it is possible that such structure may indicate a
strong prohibition, on the Hebrew Bible one can found several other statements using the same
grammatical structure, which are clearly promises.8 Can be said that the concept of the ten
commandments as ten promises “is embedded in the very grammatical structure of the Decalogue”9.
Davidson's statements help us to realized that the relationship between those two facets
(commandment and promises) are intrinsically associated and show that, if in one side it is a
prohibition, on the other side the assurance of that victory is given, not because of us, but because
of God who grants the promises and will fulfill it in us10.

Promise vs Commandment?
The difference between a promise and commandment is who is the doer of the action. If we read
the Decalogue as a commandment, we are the doers and Gos is the recipient. If we read as
promises, God, the one who is talking, is the doer and the obedient are the recipients of action. If
that is all the difference between the too (who is the doer and who is the recipient), because the
Bible makes no distinction between them. In the biblical world view, a promise is God's action (He
is the doer) to the recipient (which are the obedient ones). Under the same world view, a
commandment is God action (Yes, He still the doer) through the recipient (the obedient).
In both Testaments, the Bible teaches that we have our free will. We can choose who we serve
(Joshua 24:15) or in who we believe to have everlasting life (John 3:16). On the OT, for example,
God commanded Moses to bring Israel from captivity (Exodus 3:10 and 7:6), but God was the one
who Did it (Exodus 20:1). That “now, but not yet” tension also exists on the New Testament, when
Jesus promised, in anticipation to the obedience, that He would be with us always, till the end
(Matthew 20:19,28; cf Hebrews 10:19-25). In both Testaments, human obedience is pivotal for the
reception of both Command and Promises. Looking from that prism, for the one willing to
surrender himself to God, there is no difference between them, because in both, God is the one who
provides and fulfills it.11
The present paper have the intention of opening our minds to the understanding that receiving either
a promise or a commandment from God is a invitation to cooperate with Him. Every command is a
promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, it brings with it the life of the Infinite One. It
transforms the nature and re-creates the soul in the image of God. Jesus made it clear that, when
He said without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). He paid full price for all humanity and He
lived the perfect life we were meant to live. But you have to accept this gift from the Great God
Almighty. The Decalogue's purpose was to assure Israel – and, by correspondence, to assure us
Today, living in the 21st century – of his presence with us and within us, and to assure that He is the
one who transforms us from within. For whoever does not know God, his Ten Words (the
Decalogue) may look as a list of arbitrary prohibitions, even impossibilities. For the one that knows
him, however, they are powerful promises and statement of assurance of the work He will do in us.

8 As a example, check the following, non-inclusive list of occurrences of such form: “You shall not die”: Judges
6:23; 2 Samuel 12:13; 19:23; Jeremiah 34:4; 38:24. Additionally you can look, on the same pattern, for promises
that “You shall not be afraid” such ones, for example, found in Psalm 91:5, Ezekiel 3:9
9 Richard M. Davidson, A Love Song for the Sabbath (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Pub. Association, 1988),
36.
10 Ibid., 123–124.
11 The flip side of this truth, which will be theme of a upcoming article, is that, for the followers of Christ, the
Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) are not optional, as they are divinely ordained. The beatitudes are both promises of
what he will make to the obedient and through the obedient.

View publication stats