Ten Commandments, Dixie Style
–
Commandment I – Ex. 20:1-6
I am YHVH thy god (elohim), who brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of bondage.
The Unpronouncable Name represented by YHVH was
unpronounceable in the sense that only the Kohanic priests (by definition
patrilineal descendants of Aaron the brother of Moses) were allowed to
pronounce it, and that only sotto voce, when called for in the divine
services which they alone were permitted to conduct. The only thing that is known for sure about
the tetragrammaton (the four letters yod he vaw he, represented as “Lord” in the King James translation) is
that it was meant to conceal the actual pronunciation of the Name. The Y and V are variously transliterated as J
and W, depending on how the Hebrew letters are equated to Roman letters. Since the letters were not meant to spell the
actual Name, the issue is moot.
Out of a sense of the sacredness attached to any written reference
to their god, observant Jews read “adonai” for both YHVH and Elohim, and in
their ordinary Bibles (as opposed to sacred scrolls) that is the word that is
printed – except one or two vowels are replaced by a punctuation mark, as a
reminder of the sacredness of the word.
This is even carried over into translations and original compositions in
other languages, which is why Orthodox publications in English are littered with
“L*rd” and “G*d,” neither of which is ever given its proper English spelling.
“I am the Lord thy god” is typographic sacrilege to Orthodox
Jews. Even if the Louisiana law were
amended to permit “I am the L*rd thy g*d” on the mandated posters, the many
other omissions in the Lousiana text would probably leave it objectionable to
the Orthodox, but the spelling of that which must not be spelled is a quandary
of which we may be certain that the lawgivers Dodie Horton and her companions
were and are entirely unaware.
When the new law is challenged in court, it is likely the
objections of pious Jews will receive a more sympathetic hearing than Muslims
demanding “I am Allah thy god” or Hindus calling for “We are Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva
thy gods.”
The pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was revealed, among
Cohanim, from father to son. Since the
destruction of the Second Temple, the knowledge of the correct pronunciation
has been lost, as was proven when a number of Cohanim were recently brought
together by Third Temple enthusiasts in Israel.
It was discovered that various traditions did not agree. Considering that (Lev. 10:1) YHVH sent fire out
from the altar to consume Aaron’s first set of sons because they offered
incense when it was not called for by the rubrics, one would think that caution
is called for. Nobody likes having his
name mispronounced.)
The tradition treating the Name as a sacrosanct arcanum revealed
to Moses at Mount Horeb is, however, hard to square with the fact that men had
been calling on it since the days of Adam’s grandson. Gen. 4:26.
In the abbreviated and bowdlerized version whose publication
is decreed by the Louisana legislature, the KJV convention, YHVH = theLord (in large and small capitals), is
observed only in its truncated first commandment. Elsewhere YHVH is simply “Lord.” Giving the new law the Talmudic attention it
deserves, it will be noted that the authors have cleverly sidestepped
controversy by adopting Ten unnumbered Commandments.
But the very words “I am (particular name represented, or
rather misrepresented, by YHVH) thy god (Elohim, elsewhere – including in the
next verse – translated as “gods”) reveal a problem in our understanding of
ancient Hebrew religion. If it was
monotheistic in a modern theological sense, the First Commandment was in effect
“I am God your God,” an assertion which falls flat without the “cloud and
majesty and awe” that had the Hebrews begging Moses to make Him be quiet.
Ye shall have no other gods before me.
Here the pronoun translated as “before” has the primary
lexical meaning “above.” A god allowing
the possible existence of other gods but claiming primacy over them, among
Hebrews, for having brought the Hebrews out of Eqypt is different from God, the
Ground of Being, knowledge of Whom makes the idea of other deities irrelevant,
if not absurd. “Before,” as in “in My
Presence,” and “above,” as in “superior to Me” are two very different
meanings. But pronouns are not uncommonly
challenging for translators.
Anyway, if YHVH is to be the supreme god of the Hebrews
because he brought them out of bondage in Egypt, what does that mean for other
nationalities? Couldn’t proud Teutons
reply “We are the sons of Siegfried and have never been slaves to any man”?
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.
The gloss “graven image =
cult statue = idol” would solve any problem with this verse, but for the
obvious generality of “any likeness.”
Very few today, and probably just as few in ancient Israel, would think
it sinful of a child to draw a picture of his pet dog or cat. This commandment is a fine example of the
“off again” side of the on-again, off-again literalism of today’s Christian
fundamentalists. As in many other
instances, the Muslims can lay better claim to vital piety as measured by this
commandment. As for the Louisiana lawgivers,
they have simply repealed all after “graven image.”
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, and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,
and keep my commandments.
Commandment II – Ex. 20:7
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.
Considering all the mystery surrounding the sacred Name YHVH,
it is far from clear what all might have been encompassed by taking it “in
vain” to the ancient Hebrews. Actually, the
word here rendered “in vain” generally means “falsely.”
Perhaps the commandment refers to “swearing” in a sense
similar to modern English, though it seems a bit of a stretch. The human tendency to acknowledge deity and
at the same time invoke it irreverently is witnessed by, among many other
examples, the incessant “mehercle” (my
Hercules) that served as an all-purpose intensive in classical conversation. No doubt it reflects an improperly irreverent
attitude, and on that account ought not to be indulged in.
Maybe this injunction got the status of its own commandment
because the sacred Name was not so universally treated with reverence as later Jewish
sources would have us believe. The
interpretation “If you make a vow to YHWH by name, keep it or else” would imply
that the sacred Name was uttered for other than liturgical purposes.
Commandment III – Ex.
20:8-11
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
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:
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.
The Seventh-Day Adventists and other sabbatarians, including
all observant Jews, are qute correct in condemning the dishonesty of “sabbath”
in this supposed translation. The word
simply means “seventh,” referring to the seventh day of the week – that is,
Saturday.
Whether one believes that the church did well or ill in
transferring the one-out-of-seven observance to Sunday, the weekly Feast of the
Resurrection, mystifying the simple word “seventh” into a mysterious “sabbath”
is clearly not honest translation.
The lawgivers of Louisiana omit all but verse 8, while
retaining the non-translation “sabbath.”
It will be noticed that our contemporary literalists, even
the most extreme fundamentalists, apparently have no strong objections to the
two-day weekend, despite the divine injunction to labor six days out of seven.
There is no need to interpret the words “and rested the
seventh day” as implying that Omnipotence gets tired and needs an occasional
rest. Rather, having caused the
coming-to-be of a moral agent other than Himself, God fulfilled His creative
purpose.
This commandment may be accurately translated, and
appropriately summed up, as “Remember to make your Saturdays special.”
Commandment IV – Ex. 20:12
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
We arrive at last at a recognizably moral command, even if a
prudential rationale is attached. Note
that it is a positive command, as distinct from the “thou shalt nots” which
constitute the remaining recognized commandments.
Commandment V – Ex. 20:13
Thou shalt not kill.
It is not clear why King James’ scholars chose “to kill” to
render the Hebrew verb here. Although
the lexical meanings are not quite so clear-cut as the corresponding modern
English verbs, the Hebrew verb used is certainly better translated as “to
murder” rather than “to kill,” a much broader and simpler concept. Where humans are concerned, the Hebrew word
is used of violent, wrathful or vengeful slayings.
Commandment VI – Ex. 20:14
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
The Hebrew term seems to have required that the female
participant be married to someone other than the male for this offense to be
committed – in other words, this commandment does not forbid fornication with
an unnarried woman. On the other hand the word is used for conduct ranging from
idolatry to _.
Commandment VII – Ex. 20:15
Thou shalt not steal.
Of course the concept of theft requires a developed sense of
personal property ownership, but to the extent that the furtiveness of the act is implied, knowledge that others
would object to the act as wrongfully depriving someone of the thing stolen
renders theft immoral however underdeveloped the concept of property might be.
Commandment VIII – Ex. 20:15
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour.
This commandment leaves plenty of room for “white lies,”
little or big. If no one is injured, the
commandment is not violated. Moralists
will argue that a knowing untruth is like a stone thrown into a pond. The extent its ripples will travel cannot be
known, but truth-telling and trust themselves are diminished. However, embroidering on the Commandments is
virtually a cottage industry.
Commandment IX & X – Ex. 20:17
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.
The lawgivers of Louisiana follow the Roman Catholics in
dividing verse 17 into parts a (ending with “house”) and b (through “wife”) and
c (all the rest). Their version gives
17a in its entirety. Then in 17b, they
elide “nor his ox, nor his ass” into “his cattle.” Does their knowledge of their juvenile captive
audience give them the right to alter the Word of God? What should be the fate of pious grade-schoolers
who mark up their classroom poster to restore the Biblical words?
Various traditions use different divisions to stretch verse
17 into two or three commandments. The
discourse delivered directly by YHVH Himself, greatly annoying the Hebrews, is referred
to more than once (though not in Ex. 20) as “the ten words.” The problem is that if we don’t stop with
verse 17, the next “thou shalt and shalt nots” come at verses 23 through 26:
23: Ye
shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of
gold.
24: 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.
25: 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.
26: Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy
nakedness be not discovered thereon.
Verse 23 doesn’t seem to add anything to verses 4 and 5, already comfortably
ensconced in Commandment I. Verse 24
would involve the State of Louisiana in requiring burnt offerings. Verse 25 talks about “altars,” an uncomfortable
subject for most Louisiana Protestants and it also raises the vexed subject of
the pollution of stone by lifting up one’s tool upon it. Worst of all is verse 26. In Moses’ day, men didn’t wear pants (over or
under). If they walked on top of the
altar, God could and apparently would peep up their skirts and not like what He
saw. No, all in all it’s clearly best to
stretch verse 17 at any cost.
