What is the importance of the Ten commandments?

Answer 1

The 10 commandments are a set of rules set by God. He made the 10 commandments because the Israelite were disobeying God and breaking the rules. God called Moses up into a mountain and when he came down the Israelite were dancing with a golden calf they worshiped as God. Moses was angry and broke the calf.

God's covenant was that He will lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and to land. If the Hebrew were messing about and did not follow what God said then God will not have his people.

Answer 2

The Ten Commandments are considered foundational principles in Judaism and Christianity, guiding believers on moral and ethical behavior. They emphasize values such as honoring one's parents, not stealing, and not committing murder or adultery. They serve as a guide for leading a righteous and moral life.

Answer 3

Since a lot of the founding fathers were Christians, American law was first based on the Ten Commandments.

* Keep the Sabbath Day holy - Originally, shops were closed on Sundays and most people did not work. * Do not murder - Murder is illegal. * Do not steal. - Stealing is illegal.

Answer 4

The Ten Commandments were handed down by God. They are the rules and regulations that were forged into two tablets by God.

Answer:

The Ten Commandments are a pillar of Western civilization. They have improved the conduct of billions of people. These Commandments are so important that God revealed His presence to the entire Israelite nation when He spoke these Commands. And He scribed them in stone (Deuteronomy ch.9); unlike the rest of the Torah, which He had Moses write (Deuteronomy 31:24). What would Western society look like without these Commandments? 1) "I am the Lord your God..." has shaped the Western beliefs about God. Pantheism and polytheism, which were excuses for immorality, are out.

2) The 7-day week, including a day of rest for everyone, is thanks to the Fourth Commandment.

3) Without the Fifth Commandment, society might still permit abandoning our aged parents to die. 4) Without the Sixth Commandment, we might still be killing our own children. Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's young babies is perfectly acceptable; and that was the practice in their societies. The above are just a few examples.

They are some of the most fundamental underpinnings of society, without which anarchy would reign.

Answer 5

the purpose of the ten comandments was because everyone was being really bad and not obaying god so he gave the ten comandments to let the people know what to do so that they would be good so that god would not destry them.

Answer 6

The Ten Commandments are a pillar of Western civilization. They have improved the conduct of billions of people. These Commandments are so important that God revealed His presence to the entire Israelite nation when He spoke these Commands. And He scribed them in stone (Deuteronomy ch.9); unlike the rest of the Torah, which He had Moses write (Deuteronomy 31:24). What would Western society look like without these Commandments? 1) "I am the Lord your God..." has shaped the Western beliefs about God. Pantheism and polytheism, which were excuses for immorality, are out.
2) The 7-day week, including a day of rest for everyone, is thanks to the Fourth Commandment.
3) Without the Fifth Commandment, society might still permit abandoning our aged parents to die. 4) Without the Sixth Commandment, we might still be killing our own children. Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's young babies is perfectly acceptable; and that was the practice in their societies. The Roman lexicon also stated that anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be dismembered and killed (Roman "Twelve Tables of Law" code, 3:10). A Roman father could kill his son for any reason, without trial (Twelve Tables, 4:1). A Roman could be killed for assembling a noisy crowd at night and disturbing the town (Twelve Tables, 9:6). Elsewhere, temple-prostitution, incest, and human sacrifice were all viewed as part of religious worship.

Therefore, a higher ethical standard - not invented by humans - serves as a safeguard against such excesses. The above are just a few examples.

See also:

The Exodus story

More about the Exodus

Archaeology supporting the Hebrew Bible

The Ten Commandments are religious and moral principles, although the moral rules are only stated in the most general form and the religious ones assume the existence of one God. The Bible says that they were handed to Moses by God himself.

Whether the Ten Commandments are really of divine origin depends on whether the biblical Exodus from Egypt is historically true. On this, the strong consensus of biblical scholars is that there never was an Exodus from Egypt as described in the Bible, in which case the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God can not be historical. There is no evidence that the Ten Commandments ever existed outside the Bible. They belong to traditions put down in writing during the middle centuries of the first millennium BCE.

The significant issues at the heart of the Ten Commandments were the way Judaism was defining itself and the need to ensure a well-ordered society:
The first three Commandments are essentially different ways of saying to worship no other god. The next commandment says to do no work on the Sabbath, nor to require or request others to do so or even allow an animal to do so, an important Commandment in ancient times, although now it is almost never honoured. These Commandments help define Judaism as it was understood in the late monarchy.

The fifth commandment is to honour your father and your mother. The next four commandments define some important moral ideals, although only stated in general terms: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness against your neighbour. The final commandment requires you not to covet that which belongs to your neighbour, including his wife or slaves. This group is very much concerned with a well-ordered society in which everyone knew his place. A son knew his place in the family and in society, as did a wife and a slave. A well-ordered society required that a husband knew he was the father of his wife's children, so the Commandment against adultery protected the patriarchal succession. Finally, there had to be rules against murder, theft and giving false testimony in court. In ancient times they were not just religious commandments but laws which carried serious penalties that could be enforced.

These commandments would still be of considerable significance if people stopped to think what they say, before deciding whether to steal, commit fraud or kill others. In reality, if people need written rules of conduct, they will take more heed of the laws of the land and the penalties attached to them. Much of what is stated in this group is no longer of real significance, especially the tenth commandment where it protects the rights of slave-owners.
The Ten Commandments hold a more honoured place in Christian religion than in modern Judaism. For Jews, although important, they are ten of the many important biblical laws they must obey. For Christians, the Ten Commandments are at the heart of the Old Testament.

Answer 7

The Ten Commandments are all very important to observant Jews as the most important of the entire list of religious commandments in the Bible, but of lesser significance to others, depending on their beliefs. For example:

• The first commandment, To have "no other gods but me", is of no importance to Hindus and people of other faiths. However, it is important to Christians and Muslims, who will follow it as a matter of course.
• The second commandment is first of all not to make carved images or any likeness of anything, and secondly not to worship that image, but for a number of reasons is not important to all people. Christians all over the world make carved images (statues) and likenesses (including portraits and photographs), so clearly this part of the commandment is less important to them than is the second part. Some believe that the practice of some Christians to pray before statues or pictues of saints further contravenes this commandment. Again, this commandment is of no importance to people of non-Abrahamic faiths.
• The next commandment says to do no work on the Sabbath, nor to require or request others to do so, nor even allow an animal (or machine?) to do so, but is almost never honoured. Orthodox Jews, the only real group to attempt to honour this commandment, may decline even to press a 'walk' button so that they can cross the road at a set of traffic lights. But some Orthodox Jews would nevertheless ask or allow others to press the button for them, in contravention of the commandment.
• The last five commandments do indeed define some important moral ideals, although only in general terms. The fact that they cover so little of what moral issues need to be defined means that they are far from sufficient as a moral guide to today's generation, and because of that limitation are arguably not as important as other guidelines.

Answer 8

The Ten Commandments are of limited importance in the everyday lives of Christians. The first three commandments are essentially different ways of saying to worship no other god. The next commandment says to do no work on the Sabbath, nor to require or request others to do so or even allow an animal to do so, and is almost never honoured. The fifth commandment is to honour your father and your mother, a useful social rule usually observed out of filial love rather than by bringing to mind a commandment.

The last five commandments define some important moral ideals, although only stated in general terms: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness against your neighbour, do not covet that which belongs to your neighbour, including his wife or slaves. We need moral and legal guidance far wider than these, and no doubt our consciences and the secular laws are much more important in our lives. The Ten Commandments have achieved a mystique beyond their importance.

Answer 9

A:In spite of biblical claims to their great antiquity, the Ten Commandments that we have today were relatively recent additions to Jewish lore. The first three commandments are essentially different ways of saying to worship no other god, rules that would have been meaningless before Judah had begun to adopt monotheism in the late monarchy.

The Ten Commandments prohibited the worship of the old gods, a critical step in the evolution of Hebrew religion towards modern Judaism. They also required observance of the Sabbath, something that set the Jews apart from their neighbours. The remaining Ten Commandments were general rules that helped define the proper functioning of a civilised society and protection of property rights.

Answer 2

The 10 commandments are a theme of commandments given at Mount Sinai to Moshe (moses). They reveal the intent of the Torah (law), much as the two greatest commandments (to love Yahweh with everything and love your neighbor as yourself) show the innermost heart of the Torah. The 10 commandments were not as literal as "just these 10" as many would think, but more as a 10 themes that contained the remainder of the commands. This is why the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 34 are different than the other two times the 10 commandments are mentioned.

Answer 10

The Ten Commandments are religious and moral principles, although the moral rules are only stated in the most general form and the religious ones assume the existence of one God. The Bible says that they were handed to Moses by God himself.

Whether the Ten Commandments are really of divine origin depends on whether the biblical Exodus from Egypt is historically true. On this, the strong consensus of biblical scholars is that there never was an Exodus from Egypt as described in the Bible, in which case the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God can not be historical. There is no evidence that the Ten Commandments ever existed outside the Bible. They belong to traditions put down in writing during the middle centuries of the first millennium BCE.

The significant issues at the heart of the Ten Commandments were the way Judaism was defining itself and the need to ensure a well-ordered society:
The first three Commandments are essentially different ways of saying to worship no other god. The next commandment says to do no work on the Sabbath, nor to require or request others to do so or even allow an animal to do so, an important Commandment in ancient times, although now it is almost never honoured. These Commandments help define Judaism as it was understood in the late monarchy.

The fifth commandment is to honour your father and your mother. The next four commandments define some important moral ideals, although only stated in general terms: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness against your neighbour. The final commandment requires you not to covet that which belongs to your neighbour, including his wife or slaves. This group is very much concerned with a well-ordered society in which everyone knew his place. A son knew his place in the family and in society, as did a wife and a slave. A well-ordered society required that a husband knew he was the father of his wife's children, so the Commandment against adultery protected the patriarchal succession. Finally, there had to be rules against murder, theft and giving false testimony in court. In ancient times they were not just religious commandments but laws which carried serious penalties that could be enforced.

These commandments would still be of considerable significance if people stopped to think what they say, before deciding whether to steal, commit fraud or kill others. In reality, if people need written rules of conduct, they will take more heed of the laws of the land and the penalties attached to them. Much of what is stated in this group is no longer of real significance, especially the tenth commandment where it protects the rights of slave-owners.
The Ten Commandments hold a more honoured place in Christian religion than in modern Judaism. For Jews, although important, they are ten of the many important biblical laws they must obey. For Christians, the Ten Commandments are at the heart of the Old Testament.