18 votes
Accepted

Are the Ten Commandments directed toward a masculine audience?

The article is absolutely wrong to infer anything about the intended gender of the audience by the gender of the verbs alone, for the simple reason that in Hebrew, all written and oral addresses to ...
Sola Gratia's user avatar
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7 votes

Are the Ten Commandments directed toward a masculine audience?

The last of the traditional Ten Commandments says in Exodus 20:17 (NKJV): “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female ...
CJ Dennis's user avatar
  • 227
6 votes

Is the second of the Ten Commandments redundant?

Since the Ten Commandments (or in Hebrew Ten Statements) are situated in a long passage in both Exodus (cap. 20) and Deutronomy (cap. 5) but not delimited or numbered (that is, separated in the text ...
Sola Gratia's user avatar
  • 9,304
4 votes

Was Moses a thief in stealing the gold of the Egyptians before fleeing?

There seem to be two relevant Hebrew words used in both those passages of scripture. Consulting the book below, this is what I gleaned under the word SPOIL: "5. To snatch away - natsal. Exodus ...
Anne's user avatar
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3 votes

Is the second of the Ten Commandments redundant?

It isn't redundant. The first commandment requires that people regard only God as god. But people can believe God is their only god and still attribute supernatural qualities to physical objects, ...
Ray Butterworth's user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

Is the second of the Ten Commandments redundant?

Many have suggested that the second commandment is redundant for exactly the reasons stated by the OP. However, there is a good reason for the second commandment. One of the greatest characteristics ...
Dottard's user avatar
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3 votes

Does Isaiah 45:5-6 teach that only one God can exist?

I want to focus a bit on the comparison to Exodus 20, because the other answers have not directly addressed that aspect yet, and the perceived conflict here between the two verses seems to be a major ...
retrace's user avatar
  • 169
2 votes

Does Isaiah 45:5-6 teach that only one God can exist?

The answer to this question about whether false gods even exist is subtle and partly supplied by Isa 44:6: Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and ...
Dottard's user avatar
  • 85.5k
1 vote

Do the ten commandments cascade from the greatest to the least in Exodus 20:1-17?

Yes, the order of the Ten Commandments is significant. Jesus told us plainly that "the first" of the commandments, which in Greek has dual meaning--applicable both to sequence and to ...
Biblasia's user avatar
  • 3,847
1 vote

Does Isaiah 45:5-6 teach that only one God can exist?

The answer is yes. For Isaiah no other gods exist. Technically, earlier Israelite religion was henotheistic but not strictly monotheistic. In other words, earlier biblical writers presented YHWH as ...
Dan Fefferman's user avatar
1 vote
Accepted

Was Moses a thief in stealing the gold of the Egyptians before fleeing?

Just as a side note, Deuteronomy 15 says: 12 And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free ...
ארקדיוס's user avatar
1 vote

Was Moses a thief in stealing the gold of the Egyptians before fleeing?

There are two questions that I will address separately. You shall not "kill" The verb used in Ex 20:13 is רָצַח (ratsach) which means, here, to murder, to kill illegally. The commandment ...
Dottard's user avatar
  • 85.5k

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