I. The Ten Commandments. עשרת הדברות
The “Ten Words” are distinguished from all other lessons of the Torah both on account of their intrinsic value and on account of the extraordinary manner in which they have been revealed by the Almighty on Mount Sinai. They form the contents of “the covenant which God made with us” (Deut. v. 3).
But it must not be forgotten that they are not the only Divine commandments. When, therefore, Moses repeated them before his brethren in the plain of Moab, he prefaced it by the exhortation: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I speak unto you to-day, and learn them and keep them to do them” (ibid. 1); and after he had finished reciting them he reminded the Israelites how they received the Ten Commandments from the midst of the fire, and how they prayed that further commandments should be given to them through Moses; adding that the Almighty, in compliance with their petition, said to him: “Stand thou here with me, and I will tell thee the whole commandment, both the statutes and the judgments which thou shalt teach them” (ibid. 28).
“And God spake all these words, saying:”
First Commandment.
“I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
The Israelites who now stood round Mount Sinai [[248]]and heard the voice of God saying, “I am the Lord thy God,” were the same who a very short time before had been slaves in Egypt; they were delivered from slavery, and saw their cruel taskmasters perish in the waves of the Red Sea. Pharaoh, the king of the Egyptians, and his people had believed that they were the masters of the Israelites, and that they could do with them as they pleased. And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should listen to his voice? I know not the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” It has now been shown that Pharaoh and his people were not the true masters; that there was a higher Being that ruled over all men, over kings and their peoples. After the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, they sang with Moses: “This is my God, and I will praise him, the God of my father, and I will exalt him.” They all felt that their liberty was not obtained by human strength and skill; that there must be a higher Being who is All-powerful, All-wise, and All-good; and that it was He who freed them, and punished the wicked Egyptians by whom they had been kept in slavery. What the Israelites at first felt in their hearts they were now, when standing round Sinai, taught by God Himself, in plain, clear, and intelligible words: “I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
This is the first commandment; it is only one commandment, but it contains several important lessons:—