Why are Protestant and Catholic version of the 10 Commandments different?

Question

This is a very serious question. Mature responses only.

And also I was wondering about the 2nd commandment in the Protestant version, which states :

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Does this commandment against images/idols apply to images of Jesus, The Virgin Mary etc.?

I just read the Hebrew version, which seems to be a lot closer to the Protestant one.

Answer 1

You're right.

The Second Commandment concerns IDOLATRY and it was 'skipped over' in the Catholic version... Thus, the rest were renumbered and the 10th Commandment was split up to 9th and 10th commandments.

That is SOMETHING that the RCC herself--and NOT THE FAITHFUL-- SHOULD address and ANSWER to all of us today...

Time is of the essence now.

Peace be with you!

Answer 2

Some Protestants accuse the Catholic Church of having dropped one of the 10 Commandments. "You're idolators! You worship statues! And because you do, your Church dropped the commandment against graven images!"

Even though it might be true (which it probably is, seeing as how they cover up for their pedophile priests), it probably is that Latin Catholic's and Protestants list them differently. Chapter and verse divisions are a medieval invention, however, and the numbering systems of the Ten Commandments, the manner in which they are grouped, and the "short-hand" used for them, vary among various religious groups.

Exodus 20 is the version most often referred to when one speaks of the Ten Commandments, and from what I understand, Latin Catholics group together these:
- Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
- Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
- And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

In their opinion, grouping these together get right to the point and concept of "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." The Latin Church's shorthand for the Commandments looks different than the typical Protestant version because of how the Commandments are grouped. So I'm guessing that's why they are accused of dropping the one against idols.

But the bottom line is that we understand, care, and obey these Commandments. They were placed and given for a reason.

Answer 3

You made a good observation. Many protestants are against worshiping ANY kind of image (I don't think all protestants are like that. It is very difficult to find anything that all protestants agree on).

Remember that when Moses can down from the mountain after getting the ten commandments, he found the Israelites worshiping a golden calf, which they said represented God. Neither Moses nor God were pleased at this, even though the Israelites said that by worshiping the idol, they were really worshiping God.

Answer 4

Why are they different? This is going to depend on which translation you are looking at. The bible has been translated through many many languages over centuries. Once you take into account the biases the translator has given his/her time period, culture, etc, the multitude of shades of meaning that each language has, and then the shades of meaning that even a single word in a single language has, it isn't hard to see how the different "final products" can look and sound so different.

The meaning behind the 2nd commandment is that we are not to create idols to worship in place of God. God is not a statue. An image of Jesus or Mary or any of the saints is fine as long as the person looking at it realizes that the image is NOT Jesus/Mary/St. whoever itself.

Answer 5

Because the concept of the 10 Commandments, like the rest of the bible is a distortion of the original texts and is incomplete.

Answer 6

The key phrase in it is: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them - Catholics removed this so that they can still bow to their statues.

We are allowed images, ie art... but we are not allow to bow before them. To believe they (images) can do anything for or against us.

Answer 7

I don't know about that, but I do know that the Jewish commandments include "Thou shalt not pay retail"

Answer 8

personally I think so

PS look at the fact that Judaism also as a different version of the ten commandments.

Answer 9

10 Commandments Protestant

Answer 10

The 10 Commandments are in Exodus 20:1-17.

1. "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me."
2. "Thou shalt not make thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lorsd thy God am ajealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; & shewing mercy unto thousands of them that keep my commandments."
3. "Thou shalt not take the name of thy Lord in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain."
4. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not to do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven & earth, the sea, & all that in them is, & rested the Sabbath day, & hallowed it." (similar is Rev.14:7; JOHN 4:22-24; SABBATH IS SATURDAY)
5. "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
6. "Thou shalt not kill."
7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
8. "Thou shalt not steal."
9. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
10. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant,, nor his ox, nor his ***, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

1JOHN 2:3 "AND HEREBY WE DO KNOW THAT WE KNOW HIM, IF WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS."

Catholic Version

1. I am thy Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange Gods before me.
(IT WILL BE OBSERVED THAT THE 2nd COMMANDMENT IS LEFT OUT)
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
"A DOCTRINAL CATECHISM." (CATHOLIC) page 174 has the following question and answer.--
"Q.--Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?"
"A.--Had she not such power...she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which ther is no scriptural authority."
4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.
GENERAL CATHOLIC CATECHISM
"He shall think to change times & the law."--Dan.7:25. R.V.
"That the man of sin...who opposeth & exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."--2Thess.2:3-4