Sunday, July 15, 2012

New Testament Commentaries on the Ten Commandments


Do not think that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfil.(Matthew 5:17)


  1. I am the LORD 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. (Exodus 20:2-3)
    Concerning eating things offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. Even though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there are many gods, and many lords), but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we are in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we are by him. (I Corinthians 8:4-6)
  2. You shall not make for yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
    You say that a man should not commit adultery; but do you commit adultery? You detest idols, but do you commit sacrilege? (Romans 2:22)
    So put to death whatever belongs to the earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
  3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.  (Exodus 20:7)
    Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, "You shall not break your oath, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord."  But I say to you: Do not swear at all: not by heaven, for it is God's throne; not by the earth, for it is his footstool; not by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your own head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But for your words, let "yes" be yes, and "no" be no. Anything beyond these comes from evil. (Matthew 5:33-37)
  4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. In six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work -- neither yourself, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant or maidservant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: so the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)
    And he said to them, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. So the Son of man is also Lord of the sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28)

    And Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?" And they did not answer. And he took the man and healed him, and let him go. (Luke 14:3-4)

    And he said to them, "Is there any man among you, if one of his sheep falls into a pit on the sabbath day, will not lay hold of it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath days." (Matthew 12:11-12)

    And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. (Luke 4:31)

    One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. (Romans 14:5-6) (h/t Martin LaBar)
  5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. (Exodus 20:12)
    Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. "Honor your father and mother," -- which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you -- "and you may live long on the earth." (Ephesians 6:1)
  6. You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13)
    You have heard that it was said by the people long ago, "You shall not murder," and whoever murders shall be in danger of judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of judgment: and whoever calls his brother a contemptuous name shall be in danger of the council. Bu whoever says, "You fool" shall be in danger of hell fire. So if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:21-24)

    Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. (1 John 3:15)
  7. You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
    Mat 5:27  You have heard that it was said by the people of old, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you, that whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members should perish, than that your whole body should be cast into gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members should perish, than that your whole body should be cast into gehenna. (Matthew 5:27-30)

    It has been said, "Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce." But I say to you that whoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries the divorced woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32)
  8. You shall not not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
    He who has been stealing must steal no more: but instead, let him work, doing something useful with his own hands so that he may have something to share with the one who is in need. (Ephesians 4:28)
  9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
    Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things that defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man. (Matthew 15:19-20)
  10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any thing that is your neighbor's. (Exodus 20:17)
    What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Definitely not. No; I would not have known what sin was, except by the law. I would not have known what coveting was, except the law said, "You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7)

    Having eyes full of adultery, they cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls. In their hearts they have given covetousness a workout, accursed children. (2 Peter 2:14)


The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not covet" -- and any other commandments there may be -- are summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor: therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:9-10)



You have heard that it has been said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you, and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what have you done more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do that? Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Bless those who persecute you: bless, and do not curse. (Romans 12:14)

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, providing what is good in the sight of all men. (Romans 12:17)
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

4 comments:

Anam Cara said...

Thanks! Nicely done. This covers it all no matter how you number them.

I grew up with the ten commands numbered differently and wondered why. I just did a search and found this:
http://www.sundaysoftware.com/ten/number.htm

Interesting...... and I'd never really thought about a difference in the Deuteronomy account. Need to go look at that more carefully.

Weekend Fisher said...

There have to be three or four different numbering schemes. But I figure so long as I take everything in order, people will be able to follow.

Thank you for the encouraging words.
Anne / WF

Martin LaBar said...

Well done.

You might have included Romans 14:5 One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. 6a He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.

Weekend Fisher said...

That's a good addition.

Take care & God bless
Anne / WF