Together they are to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, which is the very first commandment in all Holy Scripture. Far from the Roman idea of the pater familias who had complete authority over his wife and children, the Hebrew teaching is that male and female are equally created in the image of God, and thus equally reflect that image in creation. Whatever patriarchy can be seen in the Old Testament stories and laws, God considers the mother of equal standing with the father in the family. This commandment establishes a centrality to the family, within which honor is to be given to one’s father and mother equally. There are three major points emphasized in this commandment, and a conclusion for Christians regarding its implications. Our duty to God and to our neighbor is first of all personal, not corporate. The directions in all the commandments are given in the second person singular - the thou, thy, and thee pronouns that we rarely use in modern English but which are the standard informal and singular usages in many modern languages such as Spanish, French, and German. It is significant that this first duty is to our parents each of us must honor them both. Deuteronomy 5:16.Īfter the first four commandments, which teach us how to worship the one God, the Lord who brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt and is leading them to the Promised Land, this is the first of the six commandments addressing how we human beings are supposed to treat one another. Honor 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. 20 And God spake all these words, saying,Ģ I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.ģ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.Ĥ Thou shalt not make unto 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 water under the earth.ĥ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to 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 Ħ And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.ħ Thou 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.Ĩ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.ĩ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:ġ0 But 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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:ġ1 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.ġ2 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.ġ6 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.ġ7 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.ġ8 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.ġ9 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.Ģ0 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.Ģ1 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.Ģ2 And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.Ģ3 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.Ģ4 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.Ģ5 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.Ģ6 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.Part of a series on the Ten Commandments.
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