What Are the Ten Commandments? All Ten, Explained

The Ten Commandments are the best known passage in the Bible and among the most misread. They are not a list for earning standing with God — before a word of law was given, God had already brought Israel out of Egypt. The order matters: rescue first, then law.

Where they appear

Twice: Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. The wording differs slightly (the reason given for the Sabbath is creation in one and the exodus in the other); the content is the same.

The first four: toward God

1. No other gods before me. Not a claim that rival gods exist, but that nothing else may occupy the highest place in you.
2. No carved image. What is forbidden is not only bowing to wood and stone but imagining God as something you can manage.
3. Do not take the LORD’s name in vain. The Hebrew means to take it up emptily — using his name for something that has nothing to do with him, including to endorse your own preferences.
4. Remember the Sabbath day. The only commandment that begins with “remember”.

The last six: toward people

5. Honour your father and mother — the only one carrying a promise.
6. Do not murder — the Hebrew is the unlawful taking of life.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not bear false witness — courtroom perjury first, and every reputation-destroying word after it.
10. Do not covet your neighbour’s house, wife, servants — the only commandment that reaches the inside rather than the behaviour, which is exactly why it stings.

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.Exodus 20:2 (KJV)

Why the numbering differs

Catholic and Lutheran traditions join “no other gods” and “no carved image” into one, then split the tenth into two (coveting a wife, coveting goods). The content is identical; only the division differs — which is why the numbers will not line up when you compare catechisms.

How Jesus summed them up

Asked which was greatest, he covered all ten in two sentences: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind (the first four), and love your neighbour as yourself (the last six). The Ten Commandments are not ten unrelated rules but love running in two directions.

Read Exodus 20 beside Deuteronomy 5 in the BiblePro app to see where the wording shifts; then use AI search to trace “love thy neighbour” through the New Testament. And do look for a local church to read alongside others.