Did God write the 10 commandments?

[chacko]

I am a theistic evolutionist, but I am having some major problems with understanding the 10 commandments. Creationists often use them as 'proof' that God created the earth in 7 literal days and did not intend anyone to believe otherwise. But what really gets to me is what Exodus 31:18 says:

'When God have finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai; he gave him the two stone tablets on which God himself had written the commandments.'

Now if we are to assume the earth was not created in 7 literal days, then what does this do for the credibility of the Bible? If 'God himself' is reported to give flawed commandments, then what can we believe? If this is wrong, doesn't it shed immense suspicion on anything reported to have been said or done by God in the Old Testament? Not to mention suspicion on Jesus himself, as following the 10 commandments was one of his teachings. If they were wrong, why did he promote them?

 

[PaladinValer]

The Ten Commandments are just that. They aren't the Torah as we have it today.

 

[gluadys]

I am a theistic evolutionist, but I am having some major problems with understanding the 10 commandments. Creationists often use them as 'proof' that God created the earth in 7 literal days and did not intend anyone to believe otherwise. But what really gets to me is what Exodus 31:18 says:

'When God have finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai; he gave him the two stone tablets on which God himself had written the commandments.'

Now if we are to assume the earth was not created in 7 literal days, then what does this do for the credibility of the Bible? If 'God himself' is reported to give flawed commandments, then what can we believe? If this is wrong, doesn't it shed immense suspicion on anything reported to have been said or done by God in the Old Testament? Not to mention suspicion on Jesus himself, as following the 10 commandments was one of his teachings. If they were wrong, why did he promote them?

This question is made even more pertinent by Moses' recitation of the 10 commandments in Deuteronomy 5.

Because in that recitation, Moses does not mention the days of creation at all.

When we come to the commandment on the Sabbath, Moses says:

"Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy as the LORD your God commanded you to do. Six days shall you labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work---you or your son...... Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day."

Emphasis added

What are we to make of this? Why would Moses give in Deuteronomy a completely different reason for the sabbath than the reason God wrote on the stone tablets?

I suggest two possible ways to deal with this issue. The first is this:

Neither the creation reference in Exodus, nor the slavery reference in Deuteronomy, is an actual part of the commandment and neither was written on the stone tablet. What was written on the tablet ends with "you shall not do any work---you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock or the alien resident in your towns."

That ends the commandment. The section beginning "For in six days..." or "Remember that you were a slave...." is Moses' commentary on why this commandment is included, and in Exodus he gives one reason and in Deuteronomy he gives another. Both are valid reasons for the commandment, but neither is a part of the commandment itself. So neither was written on the stone tablet by God. Only the actual command was so written.

The second possible solution is the one I prefer. It is this:

The scholars who developed the documentary thesis are correct. None of the Torah was written by Moses. There are various strands of writing which were assembled into the Torah during the Babylonian exile. One writer (D) wrote the story of the 10 commandments with one explanation for the Sabbath day and another writer (P) wrote the story of the 10 commandments using a different explanation.

Note that P wrote the Exodus version, referring to the six days of creation and also wrote Genesis 1, the only other place where the six days of creation are mentioned, and clearly ties them in Gen. 2:1-4a with the institution of the sabbath.

D--the Deuteronomist, writing independently from P, apparently learned a different version of why the sabbath was instituted.

A final note.

It is interesting that the bible does not refer to either of these passages as the 10 commandments. The only time this phrase is used in scripture is in reference to a still different group of 10 commandments in Exodus 34. This group of commandments also includes a short version of the command to keep the sabbath, but without any explanation as to why.

According to the Documentary thesis, this version of the 10 commandments was written by the Yahwist (J) who wrote the second creation story beginning at Genesis 2:4b.

 

[chacko]

Thank you gludyas for your reply. It really saved me from a lot of despair, as I had been searching for a valid answer to this question for a long time, needless to say it was hurting my faith as well to keep coming up against brick walls.

On a second note, can you provide with a link/s which describes the documentary thesis, its validity and its further implications?

thank you once again.

 

[gluadys]

Thank you gludyas for your reply. It really saved me from a lot of despair, as I had been searching for a valid answer to this question for a long time, needless to say it was hurting my faith as well to keep coming up against brick walls.

On a second note, can you provide with a link/s which describes the documentary thesis, its validity and its further implications?

thank you once again.

Here is a very short description.

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/2/Judaism/jepd.html

But the best resource for a layperson is Richard E. Friedman's book Who Wrote the Bible?

The documentary thesis is taught in all major theological seminaries of the orthodox, catholic and protestant traditions--and Jewish ones too, so it's considered pretty solid.

 

[JohnJones]

Thank you gludyas for your reply. It really saved me from a lot of despair, as I had been searching for a valid answer to this question for a long time, needless to say it was hurting my faith as well to keep coming up against brick walls.

It shouldn't have!!! In one place God uses creation as the reason for which he gives the Sabbath commandment "I created everything in six days and rested on the 7th, so you rest on the 7th day too" but in the other He explains the reason why He gives the commanded the Sabbath exclusively to Israel "I brought you out of Egypt, therefore I command you to rest on the 7th day."

These two reasons are not contrary to each other. The one explains why He commands the Jews only to keep the Sabbath (namely that He brought them out of Egypt.) The other explains where He came up with the number of days (He created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th). So, He is telling them that they are to rest the same number of literal days that He rested and work the same number of literal days that He worked in the creation, but the reason they alone (the Jews only) are given such a command is that He brought them and them alone out of slavery in Egypt.

PS: I will also add that the 7 day calendar week, which is essential to Jews for celebrating the Jewish holidays on the correct days, and to Christians for correctly worshipping on the first day of the week, is based on the fact that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.

 

[Kingshunter]

Just out of curiosity, how would the disproving of theistic evolution weeken your faith?

 

[gluadys]

Just out of curiosity, how would the disproving of theistic evolution weeken your faith?

It would depend on whether it is the theism or the evolution which is disproved.

Disproving evolution would not bother me. Disproving theism would bother me.

 

[BrianB]

I am a theistic evolutionist, but I am having some major problems with understanding the 10 commandments. Creationists often use them as 'proof' that God created the earth in 7 literal days and did not intend anyone to believe otherwise. But what really gets to me is what Exodus 31:18 says:

'When God have finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai; he gave him the two stone tablets on which God himself had written the commandments.'

Now if we are to assume the earth was not created in 7 literal days, then what does this do for the credibility of the Bible? If 'God himself' is reported to give flawed commandments, then what can we believe? If this is wrong, doesn't it shed immense suspicion on anything reported to have been said or done by God in the Old Testament? Not to mention suspicion on Jesus himself, as following the 10 commandments was one of his teachings. If they were wrong, why did he promote them?

Hi chacko,

I don't understand what the difficulty is. What exactly is the problem here?

BTW, I consider myself agnostic on the question of theistic evolution (haven't studied it enough yet). If this is an inappropriate post for me to put here, please let me know.

Brian