The Law we read of in the Bible is given to us in two places in the Old Testament Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 If one compare these two versions one sees a number of differences at once.
Compare Exodus 20:1-17
"And God spoke all these words:
2 ''I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 ''You shall have no other gods before me. 4 ''You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 ''You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone. guiltless who misuses his name. 8 ''Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 ''Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 13 ''You shall not murder. 14 ''You shall not commit adultery. 15 ''You shall not steal. 16 ''You shall not give false testimony against your .neighbour. 17 ''You shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall not covet your .neighbour's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour."
Deuteronomy 5 :6 - 21 6
''I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 7 ''You shall have no other gods before me. 8 ''You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11 ''You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 12 ''Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, .neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you done 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. 16 ''Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 17 ''You shall not murder. 18 ''You shall not commit adultery. 19 ''You shall not steal. 20 ''You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. 21 ''You shall not covet your neighbour's wife. You shall not set your desire on your .neighbour's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour."
Now compare this also with Exodus 34:14
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." and compare Exodus 34:17 ''Do not make cast idols. and also 34 :21 ''Six days you shall labour, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the ploughing season and harvest you must rest." It becomes clear that the Ten Commandments were in due course adapted from another source that was the original version. Which form of the texts in Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5 is more original, is difficult to say. None of the two preserves the original text. In some respects Exodus 20 preserves the older text and in other ways Deuteronomy 5 makes an impression of being older. It could be that the all the original commandments were in the form of short commandments such as "You shall not murder" or "You shall not steal" and that later they where expounded with additions of an admonishing or explanatory nature. The latter revisers of the Old Testament did not choose between the two traditions but combined the two, often in chronological order, so that the one was told as a repetition of the other. If one compares the above mentioned three versions we also see only three of those ten commandments can we be certain as part of the original version. In the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments as it is known, it is likely that we are dealing here with cultic commandments in the sense that we are told how Yahweh should be worshipped or how god should be approached. The first cultic commandment is that only Yahweh alone may acknowledged and be worshipped no other gods or god. This is the beginning of monotheism among the Israelites for this was not observed in practice of the everyday Israelite , this is more than clear if we read the story of Israel's history of a weakens to worship other gods. The second cultic commandment is the prohibition on the making of images of God, hereby a radical distinction is made between God and Nature.
The ancient near East had many fertility religions in which the gods and nature were intimately related. Yahweh is the one who creates, and therefore everything that exists depends on him, and nature therefore holds nothing comparable with him. Another cultic commandment is the observance of the feasts, of which the Sabbath is one of the most important. It is doubtful whether all the feasts mentioned in Exodus 34 are really as old as Sinai. Perhaps it is the only commandments concerning the Sabbath ands regular meetings. which are really old. Exodus 34:23. This lays down the principle, however, that the worship of Yahweh is accompanied by prescribed actions at fixed times. That is how Yahweh maintained contact with his people.
There are also ethical consequences that must be taken into account when we consider the Law. In the polytheistic world the social pattern on earth is a reflection of Divine order, and every disturbance of the established social pattern gives rise to cosmic disruption, as it also disturbs the heavenly order. Therefore the polytheistic religions are predominantly religions of the social status quo, that is that everything must stay as it is. With Israel that principle falls away and every day is subject to Divine will and Divine Law. The ethical implications of the Ten commandments is a descriptive example of this God's will must be sought in all spheres of life, the family, marriage, one's neighbour before the law, etc. thus there is a recognition of a Divine order on earth. But human order must through it be changed and directed. If there is only one God and he creates everything, there can be only one God responsible for history. Then history can have only one meaning. And history is not the Cyclical battle field of a conflict of gods, but a straight line leading somewhere. Israel related all feasts or customs which they latter adopted from other peoples to their own history. Such customs and feasts were not, as in the ancient near east, motivated by myths, but with Israelis own history. Yahweh is the god of history.
More coming soon!