Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 82 No. 3, 2012.
Pregledni rad
God’s Ten Commandments (Decalogue). The Meaning of the Ten Commandment in the Bible and the Life of the Church
Adalbert Rebić
; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The Ten Commandments relate to God’s proclamation. They are an expression of human nature and God’s will. They point out vital obligations and hence indirectly present basic rights relating to human nature. They are not the means to their own end but rather a means for people to achieve freedom, an inspiration for all of life to bloom. They are a privileged expression of natural law: from the very beginning God implanted the order of natural law in human hearts. Even though they are cognitive to human reason, God nevertheless specifically revealed them. The Ten Commandments are reported in the Bible in Ex 20:2-17 and Dt 5:6-21 and traces of the commandments can be found in other places in the Bible. The author points out their structure and their authors. The structure has a long complicated history dating back to the time of Moses until the last review of the Pentateuch (VI & V centuries BC). It appears that at first there were only five commandments and then eight which later resulted in the stabilised literary form of ten commandments. Each of these numbers has a certain Biblical value and symbolism. The definite structure of ten commandments is the result of reviews, updating and adaptation to everyday life. When the final review of the Pentateuch occurred (VI & V centuries BC) the reviewers included the Ten Commandments in Sinaitic theophany (Ex 19 – 24). Obvious traces of the first commandments given by God being expanded to the final ten are the ninth and tenth commandments which in fact interpret the sixth and seventh commandments. The eighth commandment relates to the fifth (false witness against one’s neighbours in court is in fact a form of killing).
The Ten Commandments are structured into two parts (two stone tablets): the first relates to man’s relations to God while the second refers to his relations to his neighbours. The first of man’s neighbours are his parents. They gave him life, religious and social upbringing (1 – 3 and 5 – 10). The New Testament does not portray the Ten Commandments in the form and order they are written in the Old Testament but they are present in Jesus’ preaching and Jesus states some of them directly. Finally, the author gives a general discussion about the meaning and significance of God’s Ten Commandments in the life of the Church today.
Ključne riječi
Ten Commandments; Decalogue; law; Biblical ethics; Biblical morals; God’s proclamation on Mt. Sinai; Moses
Hrčak ID:
90440
URI
Datum izdavanja:
8.11.2012.
Posjeta: 8.123 *