Greek δεκάλογος (dekalogos) — "ten words/sayings." From δέκα (deka, "ten") + λόγος (logos, "word, utterance"). The term appears in Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, and 10:4 in the LXX as "ten words" (עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, 'aseret ha-devarim in Hebrew). The English title "Ten Commandments" reflects a more imperatival framing, whereas the biblical Hebrew phrase emphasizes their character as divine utterances — direct words from God's own mouth at Sinai.
The Decalogue is the foundational moral charter of the covenant between YHWH and Israel, inscribed by God's own finger on two tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18) and spoken directly by God to the assembled people at Sinai (Deuteronomy 5:4) — unique among all the law in this direct divine utterance. The Ten Words are not an arbitrary legal code but a transcript of God's own moral nature compressed for human instruction. They are structured on two tablets: the first table (Commandments 1–4) governing vertical obligations to God (worship, name, Sabbath), and the second table (Commandments 5–10) governing horizontal obligations to neighbor — a division confirmed by Jesus's summary in Matthew 22:37–40. The Decalogue is not abrogated in the New Covenant; it is fulfilled in Christ (Matthew 5:17), internalized by the Spirit (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26–27), and remains the standard for what love of God and neighbor looks like in practice (Romans 13:8–10). Reformed theology distinguishes the Ten Words as moral law (permanent, universal, binding on all people in all times) from the ceremonial law (fulfilled in Christ) and civil law (applied to ancient Israel's theocracy).
DECALOGUE — The ten commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, and recorded in Exodus 20:1–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21. These are commonly called the Decalogue, from the Greek words signifying ten, and word or speech. [Webster 1828]
Webster's note reflects the Protestant consensus: The Decalogue is binding moral law, summarized in the two great commandments, and serves as the rule of life for the redeemed. The Reformers insisted on the Decalogue's permanent moral authority against antinomian trends, while insisting equally that obedience to it cannot justify — only Christ justifies.
The Decalogue suffers from two modern corruptions working in opposite directions. The first is antinomian dismissal: influential teachers claim that the Ten Commandments are entirely Old Covenant and have no direct binding authority over New Covenant believers, treating Paul's "not under law" as a license to discard the moral framework of Scripture. This strips the gospel of any ethical content and produces the lawless Christianity Paul himself condemns in Romans 6. The second corruption is moralistic reduction: the Decalogue is treated as a checklist for earning favor — "I don't murder, steal, or commit adultery, so I'm fine." Jesus's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) devastates this approach, showing that the commandments have interior demands (lust = adultery of the heart; hatred = murder of the heart) that no fallen human meets unaided. The right posture is neither lawlessness nor self-justifying moralism, but Spirit-empowered love that fulfills the law's intent.
• Exodus 20:1–17 — The Ten Words given at Sinai: the original proclamation with full covenant preamble.
• Deuteronomy 5:6–21 — Moses's rehearsal of the Decalogue on the plains of Moab before entering Canaan.
• Matthew 5:17–20 — "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
• Romans 13:8–10 — "Love is the fulfilling of the law" — the commandments summed up in love for neighbor.
• Jeremiah 31:33 — "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts" — New Covenant internalization of the Decalogue.
Hebrew עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים ('aseret ha-devarim, H6235+H1697) — "ten words/sayings"
→ Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4 — the biblical self-designation
→ דָּבָר (dabar) = word, thing, matter — not merely "command" but authoritative utterance
Hebrew מִצְוָה (mitzvah, H4687) — commandment, obligation
→ The 613 commandments of Torah; the Decalogue = the core 10
Greek νόμος (nomos, G3551) — law
→ Matthew 5:17: Christ came to fulfill (πληρόω) the nomos
→ Romans 3:31: We uphold (ἱστάνομεν) the law through faith
Greek ἐντολή (entolē, G1785) — commandment, specific charge
→ Matthew 22:37–40: All the commandments hang on two entolai
→ 1 John 2:3–4: Knowing God = keeping His commandments
Two tablets theological structure:
Table 1 (Commands 1–4): Obligations to God — exclusive worship, holy name, Sabbath
Table 2 (Commands 5–10): Obligations to neighbor — honor, life, marriage, property, truth, desire
• "The Decalogue does not begin with obligation but with grace: 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt' — redemption precedes command."
• "Luther taught the Decalogue as the structure of his catechism because he understood that Christians need the law to know what sin is, even after justification."
• "The two tablets of the Decalogue are not arbitrary divisions; they map the two dimensions of every human relationship — with God and with other image-bearers."