Ask most people to name the list of commandments in the bible, and they’ll immediately start thinking about Charlton Heston, stone tablets, and a very specific number: ten. It makes sense. We’ve seen the movies. We’ve seen the monuments. But if you actually sit down and crack open a Bible, the reality is a lot messier—and frankly, a lot more interesting—than what you saw in Sunday school.
Religion isn't just a set of rules. It’s a framework.
Basically, the "Ten Commandments" are just the tip of the iceberg. Depending on who you ask—a Jewish rabbi, a Catholic priest, or a Protestant scholar—the list of commandments in the bible can range from a dozen to over six hundred. It’s not just about not stealing or killing. It’s about how to treat your neighbor’s donkey, what to do if your house gets mold, and how to handle interest on a loan.
Where the Ten Commandments Actually Come From
The famous list of commandments in the bible first shows up in Exodus 20. Moses is up on Mount Sinai, the air is thick with smoke, and God starts speaking. It’s intense. But here’s the kicker: the Bible itself doesn’t actually use the phrase "Ten Commandments" in that specific chapter. It calls them the Aseret ha-Devarim in Hebrew, which translates more closely to the "Ten Words" or "Ten Utterances."
You’ll find them repeated again in Deuteronomy 5. And they aren’t exactly the same. The wording shifts. In Exodus, the reason for keeping the Sabbath is because God rested after creation. In Deuteronomy, it’s because the Israelites were slaves in Egypt and need to remember what it’s like to be free. Small change? Maybe. But it shows that even the most "fixed" part of the list of commandments in the bible was adapted for its audience.
Most people don’t realize there’s actually a third "list" in Exodus 34. This one is weird. It’s often called the Ritual Decalogue. Instead of "thou shalt not kill," it focuses on things like not boiling a young goat in its mother's milk. If you’re looking for a consistent, easy-to-follow list, the Bible is going to frustrate you. It’s a library, not a manual.
The 613 Laws: It’s Not Just Ten
If you’re Jewish, the list of commandments in the bible isn't limited to ten. It’s 613. This is known as the Taryag Mitzvot.
Maimonides, the famous 12th-century Jewish philosopher (often called the Rambam), spent an incredible amount of time scouring the Torah to codify these. He realized that the ten famous ones are basically just categories. They’re like the headings in a giant legal textbook. The other 603 fill in the details.
- Positive Commandments: These are the "Thou shalts." There are 248 of them. Legend says this corresponds to the number of bones and organs in the human body. It’s about action.
- Negative Commandments: These are the "Thou shalt nots." There are 365 of them—one for every day of the year.
A lot of these 613 commandments are impossible to follow today. Why? Because they involve the Temple in Jerusalem, which hasn't existed since 70 AD. You can’t bring a grain offering to a building that isn't there. This creates a fascinating tension in modern faith. How do you honor a list of commandments in the bible when half the list is physically impossible to execute? You adapt. You focus on the ethics behind the ritual.
Why Do Different Bibles Number Them Differently?
This is where it gets kind of confusing. If you compare a Catholic Bible, a Lutheran Bible, and a Hebrew Bible, the "Ten Commandments" aren't numbered the same way.
Most Protestants follow the Philonic division. They count the "no other gods" and "no idols" as two separate rules. Catholics and Lutherans follow the Augustinian division. They combine the gods/idols bit into one but split the "don’t covet" part into two—one for your neighbor's wife and one for his property.
It’s the same text. Just different ways of slicing the pie.
Honestly, it feels like a bit of a clerical headache. But for these traditions, how you group the list of commandments in the bible says a lot about what you value. For some, the focus is on the internal state (coveting); for others, it’s on the outward action (idolatry).
The "New" Commandment of the New Testament
By the time Jesus shows up on the scene, people were obsessed with the list of commandments in the bible. They wanted to know which one was the most important. It was a common debate topic for rabbis.
In the Gospel of Matthew, someone asks Jesus point-blank: "Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
He doesn't pick one of the big ten. Instead, he quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy ("Love the Lord your God") and a line from Leviticus 19 ("Love your neighbor as yourself"). He says all the other laws hang on these two.
Then, in the Gospel of John, he throws a curveball. He tells his disciples, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another." This is often called the Mandatum, which is where we get the name "Maundy Thursday."
It’s a shift from "don't do bad things" to "proactively do good things." It’s less about staying within the lines and more about the color you use.
The Moral vs. Ceremonial Debate
One of the biggest arguments among scholars is which parts of the list of commandments in the bible still apply today. Most theologians split the laws into three buckets:
- Moral Law: Things like "don't murder." These are considered universal and timeless.
- Civil Law: These were specific to the nation of Israel as a legal state. Laws about property damage or how to handle a goring ox fall here. Most Christians believe these expired when the ancient state of Israel fell.
- Ceremonial Law: These are the rules about sacrifices, clean and unclean foods, and priestly robes.
In the book of Acts, there’s a massive turning point for the early church. They had to decide if non-Jewish converts had to follow the whole list of commandments in the bible—specifically things like circumcision and dietary restrictions. The Council of Jerusalem basically said "no." They trimmed the list down to a few essentials to make the faith accessible to the Roman world.
This is why you can eat a cheeseburger today without feeling like you're breaking the list of commandments in the bible, even though Leviticus would have a lot to say about it.
The Problem with "Thou Shalt Not"
We tend to view the list of commandments in the bible as a giant "no." No fun. No freedom. No choices.
But if you look at the historical context, these rules were actually pretty revolutionary. Take the Sabbath, for example. In the ancient world, if you were a slave or a laborer, you worked until you died. There was no "weekend." The commandment to rest wasn't just a religious chore; it was a human right. It forced the wealthy to give their servants, their animals, and even the land a break.
The commandment against "bearing false witness" wasn't just about lying to your mom. It was about the integrity of the legal system. In a world without DNA evidence or video cameras, your word was everything. If people lied in court, the whole society collapsed.
When you read the list of commandments in the bible through that lens, they stop looking like shackles and start looking like a blueprint for a functional, somewhat fair society.
Surprising Details You Probably Missed
There are some weirdly specific entries in the broader list of commandments in the bible that don't get much press.
Did you know there's a law about putting a railing around the roof of your house? (Deuteronomy 22:8). It’s a safety regulation. If someone falls off your roof because you didn't have a fence, you're responsible. It’s basically the ancient version of building codes.
There are also laws about not cutting down fruit trees during a war. It’s an early form of environmental protection and "scorched earth" prevention. You don't destroy the food supply just to win a battle.
Then there's the Year of Jubilee. Every 50 years, all debts were supposed to be cancelled and land was supposed to be returned to its original owners. It was a massive economic "reset" button designed to prevent a permanent underclass from forming. Imagine if we did that today. The list of commandments in the bible isn't just about personal piety; it's about radical economic justice.
Misconceptions About the List
One of the biggest myths is that the list of commandments in the bible is a way to "get into heaven."
In the Jewish tradition, keeping the mitzvot isn't about the afterlife. It’s about sanctifying the here and now. It’s about making this world a place where God can dwell.
In the Christian tradition, the apostle Paul argues in the book of Galatians that the law was never meant to save anyone. He calls it a "tutor" or a "schoolmaster." Its job was to show people they couldn't be perfect on their own. It was meant to point toward the need for grace.
So, whether you view them as a lifestyle guide, a legal code, or a spiritual mirror, the list of commandments in the bible is rarely about checking boxes to earn a reward. It's more about identity.
Practical Ways to Approach the Commandments
If you’re trying to actually apply the list of commandments in the bible to your life, don't try to swallow the whole 613-item list at once. You'll get stuck on the parts about leprosy and wool-linen blends.
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- Focus on the "Why": Instead of just seeing "don't steal," think about the value of honesty and respect for others' hard work.
- Look for the "Two Greats": If you're overwhelmed, go back to Jesus’ summary. Does this action love God? Does it love your neighbor? If the answer is no, the specific rule doesn't matter as much as the failure of the heart.
- Study the Context: Use a good study Bible (like the ESV Study Bible or the Jewish Study Bible) to understand why a specific law was written. Context changes everything.
- Acknowledge the Difficulty: It’s okay to find some of these laws disturbing or confusing. The Bible is an ancient text. Acknowledging the gap between 1400 BC and 2026 AD is the first step toward honest study.
The list of commandments in the bible isn't a static document. It’s a conversation that has been going on for thousands of years. It’s been debated by scholars like Aquinas, challenged by reformers like Luther, and lived out by millions of people.
Whether you see them as divine dictates or historical artifacts, these "words" shaped the moral architecture of the Western world. They’re worth knowing, not just as a list to memorize, but as a window into what we think it means to be a good person.
To truly understand the list of commandments in the bible, your next step should be to read Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 side-by-side. Notice the differences in the reasoning for the Sabbath. Then, look up the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5-7 to see how those ancient laws were reinterpreted for a new era. This comparative reading will give you more insight than any simple list ever could.