Table 3.S Numbering the Commandments in Post-Biblical Traditions

Table 3.S Numbering the Commandments in Post-Biblical Traditions

While each religious community has ten commandments, the tradition of numbering the commandments differs from one to the next. The traditional Jewish division finds the first commandment in verse 2: "I am YHWH your Elohim." and joins verses 3 and 4 into the second commandment. Some Christian traditions begins numbering the commandments with verse 3, so the first commandment is "You may not have any other gods except me." The Roman Catholic and Lutheran branchs of Christianity combine the "no other gods" and "no images" statements into one commandment and divide the coveting commandment into two parts: commandment 9 is "you shall not covet your neighbor's house" and commandment 10 is "you shall not covet your neighbor's wife."

	Judaic	Roman Catholic	Lutheran	Other Protestant
Prologue		v.1 I am YHWH your elohim	v.1 I am YHWH your elohim	v.1 I am YHWH your elohim
1	v.1 I am YHWH your elohim	v.3-6 No other elohim, no idols	v.3-6 No other elohim, no idols	v.3 No other elohim
2	v.3-6 No other elohim, no idols	v.7 YHWH's name not in vain	v.7 YHWH's name not in vain	v.4-6 No idols
3	v.7 YHWH's name not in vain	v.8-11 Keep sabbath	v.8-11 Keep sabbath	v.7 YHWH's name not in vain
4	v.8-11 Keep sabbath	v.12 Honor parents	v.12 Honor parents	v.8-11 Keep sabbath
5	v.12 Honor parents	v.13 Not murder	v.13 Not murder	v.12 Honor parents
6	v.13 Not murder	v.14 Not commit adultery	v.14 Not commit adultery	v.13 Not murder
7	v.14 Not commit adultery	v.15 Not steal	v.15 Not steal	v.14 Not commit adultery
8	v.15 Not steal	v.16 Not bear false witness	v.16 Not bear false witness	v.15 Not steal
9	v.16 Not bear false witness	v17a Not covet neighbor's house	v17a Not covet neighbor's house	v.16 Not bear false witness
10	v.17 Not covet	v17b Not covet neighbor's wife, etc.	v17b Not covet neighbor's wife, etc.	v.17 Not covet