Saturday, December 1, 2012

The Ten Words

Contrary to most translations and to pervasive popular usage, the Old Testament never refers to this document as the "Ten Commandments"; these are "ten words" (cf. [Deut.] 10:4; Ex. 34:28). Given the semantic range of the term debārîm, we should follow the early Greek translation and refer to this document as the Decalogue, that is, "the ten words/declarations," or even "the ten principles of covenant relationship."

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 128.

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