The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #42476   Message #620115
Posted By: Burke
02-Jan-02 - 06:57 PM
Thread Name: BS: Christianity: Catholicism query
Subject: RE: BS: Christianity: Catholicism query
Guest, Paul, I addressed the different versions a little without first looking at your PDF link. The site actually gives 6. I don't know that anyone considers it's 5th & 6th as the definitive decalogue. What you have in the 1st four is some numbering differences & abridged vs full forms. Except for the ranking of 'graven images' I think the differences are more apparent than real.

The Protestant & Hebrew versions given are basically the biblical texts from Exodus in different English translations. The 1 of the Hebrew, is regarded as preamble by the Protestant & omitted there, but inclued as part of 1 of the "First Tablets". The Hebrew combines the Protestant 1 & 2 into 2. From there they are basically the same.

The so called "First Tablets" version on p.2 is the abridged "Protestant" version. I suspect that's what a lot of Protestants were taught for memorization purposes. I think this has been done for the practical reason of teaching children & tring to keep it simple. "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy" is what I memorized. All the rest that follows & precedes "Honor thy Father & Mother." was treated as amplification or explanation.

I memorized "Honor thy father and thy mother that is may go well with thee & thou mayest live long on the earth." Some of the other versions just give "Honor thy father and thy mother." It would have been easier to memorize the shorter, I'm not sure it changes the meaning a lot; except that I also learned it was the only commandment with a promise in it. The Catholic version is both abridged & numbered differently. Having also grown up with the Catholic numbering, I was always told the 'graven image' was really part of the commentary on or amplification of 'no other gods'. It could be omitted the same as the 6 days labor, etc. for the sabbath commandment. From a purely practical point of view to get to 10 the covet commandmend is split. The Deuteronomy version put the wife before the house & that's the way I remember memorizing it.

I've long suspected the Catholic version overlooked the graven image to get around the fact that images figure so largly in worship, but I'm not sure you'd find it documented. If the "Hebrew" numbering reflects traditional Jewish subdivision, it's possible the Catholic version adopted that & then abridged it. OTOH, lumping wives in with houses & cattle as objects to covet is pretty offensive, I rather like that they are treated separately.

I seem to recall that at one time the 7 deadly sins & the 7 virtues were more important as rules for living than the 10 commandments. Anyone know more?