How many versions of the Ten Commandments

August 1, 2005 11:52 AM

How many different versions are there of the Ten Commandments?
posted by GernBlandston to Religion & Philosophy (6 answers total)

You're going to have to be more specific. A religious Jew would tell you "one," but are you including translations, re-translations, famous misprints, and everything else that could somehow alter a five-thousand-year-old document?
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:56 AM on August 1, 2005

Actually, a religious Jew would tell you "two," because there's one version in Exodus, and another in Deuteronomy.
posted by greatgefilte at 12:05 PM on August 1, 2005

There's also issues of just exactly how those "ten" commandments are numbered, as the italicized indications in greatgefilte's links aren't part of the actual biblical text, and there's more than ten grammatical imperatives in both. Catholic commandment #1 = Protestant Commandments #1 & 2; Catholic Commandments #9 & 10 = Protestant Commandment #10. Also see Wikipedia.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:28 PM on August 1, 2005

Best answer: This page lists Hebrew, Catholic, and Protestant versions. This page compares the full text of the Catholic and Protestant versions.

Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary has a rewrite.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:38 PM on August 1, 2005

The ten commandments are covered by thirty eight affirmations
in the Egyptian book of the dead.Moses was an Egyptian, so we have to consider the source.
posted by hortense at 1:14 PM on August 1, 2005

Never forget the eternal two commandments.
posted by Lockeownzj00 at 10:25 PM on August 1, 2005