Deuteronomy 5

Moses called all Israel together and said to them: Listen, Israel, to the rules and legal decisions I am speaking to you today. Learn them, keep them, and do them.

1And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

Note"Statutes and judgments" are two standard Hebrew legal terms: fixed decrees, and rulings of the kind a judge hands down in particular cases. Paired together they are a way of saying "the whole body of law," not two separate collections.

2The LORD our God made an agreement with us at Horeb.

2The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

NoteHoreb is the other name this book uses for the mountain called Sinai elsewhere in the Bible; they refer to the same place. A covenant was a formal, binding agreement of the kind ancient kings made with peoples they ruled or with allies, with stated obligations and stated consequences, closer to a treaty than to a private promise.

3The LORD did not make this agreement with our ancestors, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.

3The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

NoteThe people Moses is speaking to are largely the children of the generation that stood at Horeb, forty years earlier. The verse deliberately collapses that distance, treating the present audience as the covenant's own partners rather than heirs to someone else's agreement.

4The LORD spoke with you face to face on the mountain, out of the middle of the fire.

4The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,

Note"Face to face" is a Hebrew idiom for direct, in-person dealing, the way one person speaks to another without a go-between. It does not mean the people saw a face; the same book insists they saw no shape at all, only fire.

5(At that time I stood between the LORD and you, to tell you what the LORD said, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) He said:

5(I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

NoteThis aside sits awkwardly beside the verse before it, which says the LORD spoke to the people directly. Both statements stand in the text as it has come down to us, and the passage does not smooth them together.

6I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place where you were slaves.

6I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Note"LORD" printed in capitals is not a translation of a word for a ruler; it stands in for the personal name of Israel's God, written in Hebrew with four consonants (YHWH), which later Jewish practice avoided saying aloud. "God" translates a separate, more general word.

7You must have no other gods besides me.

7Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

NoteThe Hebrew behind "besides me" is literally "before my face," and its exact force is disputed: it can mean "in addition to me," "in preference to me," or "in my presence." The demand is for exclusive loyalty either way.

8You must not make for yourself a carved idol, or any image of anything in the sky above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth.

8Thou shalt not make thee 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 waters beneath the earth:

NoteThe Hebrew word is for an image cut or carved from wood or stone, the ordinary way gods were represented in the surrounding cultures. "Sky above, earth below, waters under the earth" is the standard ancient description of the whole world in three layers, so the list means "anything anywhere" rather than three separate categories of statue.

9You must not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. I punish the children for the sin of their parents, down to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

9Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy 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,

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "jealous" describes a claim that refuses to be shared (the sense a husband or wife has of an exclusive bond), rather than petty envy; it is used in the Bible almost only of God. "Third and fourth generation" reflects a household in which great-grandparents, parents and children could all be alive under one roof, so it means consequences reaching as far as a living family extends.

10but I show faithful love to thousands of generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

10And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

NoteThe Hebrew word here can mean "thousands" of people or, as many translations take it, a thousand generations; the text is open either way. Whichever is meant, it is set against the "third and fourth generation" of the previous verse as a deliberately lopsided comparison.

11You must not use the name of the LORD your God in an empty or false way, because the LORD will not let anyone go unpunished who uses his name that way.

11Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

NoteThe Hebrew word covers both emptiness and falsehood. In practice it points at swearing an oath in God's name and not meaning it or not keeping it, using the name to back a lie or a worthless promise, as well as using it casually for nothing.

12Keep the Sabbath day and treat it as holy, just as the LORD your God has commanded you.

12Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.

Note"Sabbath" comes from a Hebrew verb meaning to stop or cease. "Holy" means set apart from ordinary use, not morally pure. The parallel version of these commandments in Exodus says "Remember the Sabbath day" and grounds it in the creation account; this one says "Keep" and gives a different reason in verse 15.

13For six days you are to labor and do all your work,

13Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:

14but the seventh day is a Sabbath belonging to the LORD your God. On that day you must not do any work. That includes you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, and the foreigner living in your towns. This way your male and female servants may rest just as you do.

14But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

NoteThe "foreigner" is a resident outsider living long-term among Israelites without land or clan of his own, not a traveler passing through. "Within your gates" means inside your towns, since towns were walled and entered by a gate; the gateway was also where local legal business was done.

15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and a powerful arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

15And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

Note"A strong hand and a powerful arm" is a fixed Hebrew phrase for a display of overwhelming power; very similar wording was used of Egyptian kings in their own inscriptions.

16Honor your father and your mother, just as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live a long time, and so that things may go well for you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

16Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

NoteThe Hebrew verb translated "honor" is built on a root meaning "to be heavy", to treat someone as carrying weight. In this setting it includes the practical support and care of aging parents, not only a respectful attitude.

17You must not murder.

17Thou shalt not kill.

NoteThe King James "thou shalt not kill" is too broad. The Hebrew verb refers to unlawful killing of a person (murder, and in some passages killing through negligence) and is never used of executions, war, or the slaughter of animals, all of which the same law code regulates elsewhere.

18You must not commit adultery.

18Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

NoteIn ancient Israelite law adultery meant sexual relations with another man's wife or fiancée. A married man's involvement with an unmarried woman was handled under different laws, so this command is narrower than the modern English word suggests.

19You must not steal.

19Neither shalt thou steal.

NoteThe Hebrew states no object, simply "you shall not steal." Some scholars have argued that in this list, alongside commands about killing and false testimony, it originally targeted stealing a person, that is kidnapping; the text as it stands leaves it unrestricted.

20You must not give false testimony against your neighbor.

20Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

NoteThis is courtroom language. In a legal system without police or forensic evidence, cases turned almost entirely on witnesses, so lying under oath could directly cost a neighbor his property or his life.

21You must not want your neighbor's wife for yourself. You must not crave your neighbor's house, or his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything at all that belongs to your neighbor.

21Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

NoteDeuteronomy uses two different Hebrew verbs here where the Exodus version repeats one, and it puts the wife in a sentence of her own, ahead of the house, rather than listing her among the household's contents. The verbs cover more than a passing wish: they include setting one's sights on something with a view to getting it.

22The LORD spoke these words in a loud voice to your whole assembly on the mountain, out of the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness. He added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

22These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

NoteHebrew calls this set of commands "the ten words," which is where the term Decalogue comes from; "commandment" is a later label. "Thick darkness" translates a specific word for the dense storm-cloud that regularly accompanies descriptions of God appearing on a mountain. "He added nothing more" marks these as the whole of what the assembled people heard directly.

23When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me,

23And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

Note"Elders" were not simply old men but the recognized heads of families and clans, who functioned as the local authority, settling disputes, representing the community, and speaking for it.

24and you said, Look, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even after God speaks with him.

24And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

NoteThe assumption behind this and the next verses, taken for granted throughout the Hebrew Bible, is that direct contact with God is lethal to a human being. Their astonishment is at having survived, not at having heard.

25But now, why should we die? This great fire will burn us up. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer, we will die.

25Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.

26For has anyone in all the human race ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and stayed alive?

26For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

Note"All flesh" is a Hebrew idiom for every living creature, used here of humanity in general. "The living God" is a standing title that sets him against images, which cannot speak or act.

27You go near and listen to everything the LORD our God says. Then you tell us everything the LORD our God tells you, and we will listen and do it.

27Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

28The LORD heard what you said when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me: I have heard what these people said to you. Everything they have said is good.

28And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.

29If only they had a heart like that in them always, so they would respect me and keep all my commandments at all times. Then it would go well with them and with their children forever.

29O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

30Go and tell them to return to their tents.

30Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.

NoteIsrael is camped in tents in the wilderness at this point, so "return to your tents" simply means "go back home", the people are dismissed while Moses remains.

31But you stay here with me, and I will tell you all the commandments, rules, and legal decisions that you are to teach them, so they may follow them in the land I am giving them to own.

31But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.

NoteThe laws Moses says he will be given are the ones set out in the long central section of this book. "The land" is Canaan, west of the Jordan; the speech is being delivered on the eastern side, before the people cross over.

32So be careful to do exactly what the LORD your God has commanded you. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left.

32Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

Note"Turn aside to the right or to the left" is a traveling image: leaving the road. It runs on into the next verse, where obedience is "walking in" the ways God commanded.

33Walk in all the ways the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live, and things may go well for you, and you may live a long time in the land you are going to own.

33Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.