Exodus 20:1
Deuteronomy 5:6–21—How could Moses alter the wording of the Ten Commandments from that which God spoke to him?
Deuteronomy 5:6–21
—How could Moses alter the wording of the Ten Commandments from that which God spoke to him?
Problem:
In
Deuteronomy 5:6–21
Moses repeats the Ten Commandments to Israel. In reviewing the covenant which God made with Israel, Moses reviews the commandments which God gave to Israel at Sinai. However, Moses’ wording of the commandments in this passage is not exactly the same as the wording of God in
Exodus 20:2–17
. How could Moses alter the wording of the Ten Commandments from wording which God gave to him?
Solution:
First, it must be remembered that Moses’ purpose in reviewing the Law is not to provide an exact word-for-word recitation of the statements in Exodus. Moses is not only reviewing the Law, but he is expounding and explaining the Law and its implications and applications for entrance into and life in the Promised Land.
Second, Moses was also under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as he spoke and wrote the words in these passages in Deuteronomy. Consequently, it is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Moses altered, omitted, or added a word or phrase in his presentation of the Decalogue.
Who Wrote the Second Set of Commandments: God or Moses?
Some allege a contradiction between God writing the Ten Commandments and Moses supposedly writing the second set. This is based on a misunderstanding of the pronouns in Exodus 34.
Exodus 34:1 makes it abundantly clear who writes the second set of tablets: "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke.'" God explicitly states He will do the writing.
Later, in Exodus 34:27-28, God commands Moses to write down the surrounding covenant instructions (regarding feasts and avoiding idols). The text then says, "And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." The antecedent "He" refers back to God, perfectly aligning with His promise in verse 1 and Moses' own later testimony in Deuteronomy 10:2-4, where Moses confirms that God Himself wrote on the second set of tablets.