A divine directive or moral precept given by God to man — carrying the authority of the Lawgiver and requiring obedience. The Ten Commandments (Decalogue) stand as the moral backbone of Scripture — summarizing God's requirements for loving Him and loving neighbor. Jesus does not abolish the commandments but fulfills and deepens them: "You have heard... but I say to you" (Matt. 5). The greatest commandment is love of God with all one's being, and the second is love of neighbor (Matt. 22:37–39). Obedience to commandments flows from love, not legalism — "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15).
COMMAND'MENT, n. 1. A command; a mandate; an order or injunction given by authority; charge; precept. 2. By way of eminence, a precept of the Decalogue, or moral law, written on tables of stone. The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20. 3. Authority; coercive power. "In love and thy commandments." — Shak.
Post-Enlightenment culture is allergic to commandments — particularly divine ones. The very concept of moral law handed down from above collides with the modern idol of autonomy ("I am my own law"). Commandments have been reframed as oppressive constraints, relics of primitive religion, or cultural artifacts with no binding claim on modern persons. Even within the church, antinomianism flourishes — the subtle doctrine that grace has abolished law, that love is all that matters, and commandments are optional for the "spiritually mature." Scripture answers plainly: "Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments... shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:19).
Exodus 20:1–17 — The Ten Commandments — the foundation of God's moral law.
John 14:15 — "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
Matthew 22:37–39 — "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart... This is the great and first commandment."
Psalm 119:97 — "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day."
1 John 5:3 — "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."
H4687 — mitzvah (מִצְוָה): commandment, precept, divine instruction; from tsavah (to command)
G1785 — entole (ἐντολή): commandment, injunction, charge given by God or Christ
H6680 — tsavah (צָוָה): to command, to give a charge, to appoint
• "The commandments of God are not a cage — they are the shape of human flourishing as God designed it."
• "Jesus' summary of the law in two great commandments does not replace the Decalogue but reveals its heart."
• "A faith that cannot say 'God commands this' is not biblical faith but personal preference dressed in religious language."