Deuteronomy 5 explained: The Ten Commandments Spoken Again

A covenant made with us (vv. 1-3)

Moses tells a new generation, many of them children or not yet born at Mount Horeb (another name for Sinai), that God's covenant, a binding agreement, was made 'with us, who are alive here today.' Interpreters are unsure exactly what he means: not only with the parents but with the children too, or a new kind of agreement compared with ancestors like Abraham, or the people who will actually enter the land.

Moses stands between (vv. 4-5)

'Face to face' means God spoke openly and unmistakably, not that the people saw any shape, and Moses stood between God and the people because they were afraid of the fire. Christians later read Moses in this go-between role as a picture of Jesus.

Rescue first, then loyalty (vv. 6-11)

The commands open by naming what God has already done, freeing them from slavery, and only then ask them to worship no other gods, make no idols and not misuse God's name. Calling God 'jealous' means God will not share their loyalty, and the line about generations sets limited punishment beside love that lasts far longer.

A day of rest for all (vv. 12-15)

In Exodus the weekly rest day is tied to God resting after creation, but here it is tied to Israel's memory of being slaves who never got a day off. So the rest is meant to reach children, servants, foreigners and even working animals.

Living fairly with others (vv. 16-21)

These commands protect family, life, marriage, property and honest courts, where false testimony could ruin someone. The last one forbids even craving what belongs to a neighbor, and here, unlike in Exodus, the neighbor's wife is named on her own before the house, land, servants and animals.

Fear, a request, a charge (vv. 22-33)

God spoke only these ten commands directly to everyone and wrote them on two stone tablets, and the terrified leaders begged Moses to hear the rest and pass it on. God approves their request but wishes they would truly have the heart to keep it, and Moses urges them to stay on this path so life in the land would go well.

Key verse: Deuteronomy 5:6

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on what these commands are in this chapter: the terms of Israel's own national covenant at Sinai, or a summary of moral law meant for all people, with that view shaping how much of the chapter they see as still speaking directly to them.

Something to think about

Why might a set of rules begin by recalling a rescue rather than simply stating demands, and does that change how the rules come across to you?