The Ten Commandments
1446 BC
📖 About This Event
At the third month after the Israelites' departure from Egypt, they arrived at Mount Sinai, where God called Moses up the mountain and made a covenant with the people. God offered to make Israel His treasured possession 'above all peoples, who shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation' (Exodus 19:5-6). The people responded, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do.' Then the mountain was covered with smoke, thunder, lightning, and a loud trumpet blast, and the Lord came down upon it in fire. Moses spoke to the people, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord gave Moses the Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God on two tablets of stone.
The Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) form the moral foundation of the covenant between God and Israel. They are: (1) You shall have no other gods before me; (2) You shall not make for yourself a carved image; (3) You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; (4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; (5) Honor your father and your mother; (6) You shall not murder; (7) You shall not commit adultery; (8) You shall not steal; (9) You shall not bear false witness; (10) You shall not covet. The first three commandments concern love of God, and the last seven concern love of neighbor. Jesus would later summarize the entire law in these two commandments: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (Matthew 22:37-39).
The Catholic Church receives the Ten Commandments as the foundation of moral law, written on the heart of every person and revealed fully in the Decalogue. The Catechism devotes extensive treatment to each commandment, showing how they express the natural law and are fulfilled in Christ. The giving of the Law at Sinai is a pivotal moment in salvation history, establishing the moral framework for Israel's relationship with God and providing the standard against which all human behavior is measured. Key Scripture: Exodus 19-20; Matthew 22:37-40; CCC 195-206, 2052-2557