The Ten Commandments in Hebrew: What the Original Text Actually Says

The Ten Commandments are the most famous legal code in human history. They have been posted in courthouses, memorized by children, recited in prayers, and cited in political debates for millennia. But most of what people think they know about the Ten Commandments is filtered through English translation, and several significant nuances are lost in the transfer. Reading the commandments in the original Hebrew reveals a more relational, more demanding, and in some ways more merciful text than the one most people have memorized.

The Hebrew Term: "Aseret HaDibrot"

The Ten Commandments are called in Hebrew "Aseret HaDibrot" -- literally, "The Ten Words" or "The Ten Sayings." The word "dibrot" comes from "davar" (word, thing, matter), which we have already explored as a root where word and reality are inseparable. God's ten words are not merely legal prohibitions -- they are reality-shaping declarations. When God says "you shall not murder," He is not merely forbidding an action; He is speaking a world into existence where murder does not belong.

The Preamble: Context Before Command

Before any commandment is given, God identifies Himself: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:2). The Hebrew opens with the emphatic "Anokhi" (I, emphatically) -- the same form used in formal covenant declarations and royal proclamations. The commandments are not delivered by an anonymous legislative authority. They are given by a specific God whose track record is already established: He brought Israel out of Egypt. The commands follow the rescue; they do not precede it. Obedience is Israel's response to redemption, not the mechanism for earning it.

First Commandment: "No Other Gods"

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). The Hebrew "al-panai" (before me) means literally "before my face" or "to my face." The prohibition is not merely against other gods existing but against placing other allegiances in God's face -- in His presence, in His sight. The image is relational: you would not insult a covenant partner to their face. "Before me" is spatial (in my presence) and temporal (before you know me, before relationship). The commandment forbids substituting any other ultimate allegiance in the covenantal space that belongs to YHWH.

Second Commandment: Images

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" (Exodus 20:4). The Hebrew word "pesel" (carved image) specifically refers to an object carved or fashioned to represent a deity. The prohibition is not against all artistic representation -- Israel built cherubim, carved pomegranates, and molded the bronze sea for the temple. The prohibition is against using human craftsmanship to represent God, who is beyond any created representation. The theological argument: if you carve an image of God, you have made God in your image rather than understanding that you are made in His.

Third Commandment: The Name

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (Exodus 20:7). The Hebrew "shav" (vain) does not primarily mean profanity -- it means emptiness, worthlessness, falsehood. To take God's name "in vain" is to use it for empty purposes: perjured oaths, false prophecy, invoking God's name for trivial matters, or making promises in God's name you do not intend to keep. The broader prohibition targets the misuse of covenantal identity. Latter-day Saints take God's name upon them at baptism and in the sacrament -- taking that name "in vain" would be living the covenant hypocritically.

Fourth Commandment: The Sabbath

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8). The Hebrew "zakhor" (remember) is the same word used when "God remembered Noah" in Genesis 8:1 -- active intervention, not passive recollection. To "remember" the Sabbath is to actively reinstate it, to re-create the condition of covenant separation. The Hebrew "l'kaddesho" (to keep it holy) uses the root "qadash" (holy, set apart) -- to keep the Sabbath holy is to set it apart from ordinary time. The Deuteronomy version uses "shamor" (observe/guard) rather than "zakhor" (remember) -- a variation that ancient rabbis explained as two aspects of one commandment simultaneously given.

The rationale in Exodus cites creation (Genesis 2:2-3); the rationale in Deuteronomy cites the Exodus: "remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 5:15). The Sabbath commemorates both the Creator's rest and the slave's liberation. In both cases, it is a weekly re-enactment of divine gift: the rest was God's first; the freedom was God's gift.

Fifth Commandment: Parents

"Honour thy father and thy mother" (Exodus 20:12). The Hebrew "kabed" (honor) comes from the root "kavod" (weight, glory, substance). To honor is to give weight to, to treat as substantive and significant rather than dismissible. The same root describes God's glory. Honoring parents is a practice of recognizing divine weight in human relationships. The commandment comes with a promise -- "that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee" -- linking family honor to covenant inheritance.

The Murder Commandment: Ratsach vs. Harag

"Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13). The Hebrew is "lo tirtsach" -- using the verb "ratsach," which does not mean all killing but specifically murder, wrongful killing, or the killing of persons under God's protection. The Hebrew Bible uses a different verb -- "harag" -- for killing in warfare or judgment, and the Torah explicitly permits both. "Lo tirtsach" prohibits unauthorized taking of life: murder, manslaughter, and the failure of a city of refuge to protect the innocent. The commandment is more precise than "do not kill" and more demanding than a mere homicide law.

"Covet" as Covet, Not Merely Desire

The final commandment -- "Thou shalt not covet" -- uses the Hebrew "chamad," which means to desire in a way that leads to acquisition. Chamad is not merely feeling desire; it is acting on desire to take what belongs to another. Deuteronomy's parallel version uses "avah" (to desire/crave) for the mind and "chamad" for the action, distinguishing the internal feeling from the external pursuit. The commandment addresses both -- but the Hebrew precision reveals that the prohibition targets the desire that moves toward acquisition, not the passing thought of envy.

The Commandments as Covenant Framework

Read as a unit, the Ten Commandments follow the structure of an ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaty: historical prologue (Exodus 20:2 -- I am the God who rescued you), stipulations (commandments 1-10), and implicit blessings and curses (detailed in Deuteronomy 28). The commandments are Israel's covenant constitution -- not a path to earn God's favor but the terms of a relationship God had already established by grace. Every commandment is a clarification of what covenant faithfulness looks like in practice.