Why did God change the Ten Commandments?

Question

Moses gets his tablets, reads the commandments (Exodus 20:2-17) breaks the tablets and a few days later gets new commandments. God tells Moses they are the same commandments ("hew thee two tablets of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon them the words that were on the first tablets")

Yet the second set of commandments (Exodus 34:14-26) are different from the first. The second ones seem to be the real ones, because as it is written: ""And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments." (Exodus 34:28)"

Anybody who can help me on this, because i don't get it.

Second little question, can anybody explain to me the tenth commandment "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk" ?
I always assumed it was "Don't covet your neighbor's wife and property". That one was easy for me, my neighbour is 88 years old. But the one occording to Exodus 34, i truly don't understand.

Answer 1

The old "wrong commandments" arguement. Another classic that is so simple you wonder why people can't see it.

In verse 1 God told Moses to make another set of stones like the first and God said "I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets". In Exodus 34:28 it says that's is what He did - he wrote the Ten Commandments.

In between He talked to Moses and explained and expanded the commandments - but NOWHERE does it say verses 14-26 are what He WROTE. Moses was up there for 40 days with God. I am sure they SAID many things during that time. Verses 14-26 record some of them. But He WROTE "the same word that were on the first tablet".

Sorry, no contradiction, but feel free to try again some time...

Answer 2

He didn't change the 10 commandments, honey. Verse 27 is a new thought.

In the previous verses He is telling Moses general information to relate to the people, and in verse 27 He gets back to the task of writing the ten commandments.

If you look at Deuteronomy 5:6-21 they are the same commandments as in Exodus 20:2-17. Deuteronomy is the second reading of the law, which happens much later than Exodus 20:2-17.

Both tablets were the same.

I don't know why God didn't want them to boil a young goat in it's mother's milk, but it's not one of the ten commandments.

Answer 3

god did not replace them; the region you compromise with posts 2 issues -- 3 diverse variations of what the ten are, dependig on religious custom and then an invention of a 2d set in preserving with choosing 10 different commandments and claiming that they're a sparkling set of ten on the stone -- yet that is no longer precise. in truth, in case you seem at deuteronomy, you'll see a similar initial 10 restated (just about identically). Why are you choosing different verses and claiming that they were a alternative? the torah is full of a large number of commandments -- 10 became the start, no longer the end, notwithstanding the ten on the pills were the in basic terms 10 on the pills.

Answer 4

I'm tired so I'll just answer part of your question right now regarding "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in it's mother's milk."

If someone slaughtered your wife's child in order to eat it, and then used your wife's breast milk in which to boil the child, well, that would just add insult to injury. In other words, that breast milk was meant to provide life and nourishment to the child, not meant to be an ingredient used in the death of the child. God is sensitive even to this kind of dynamic concerning animals. Not that the animal (the she-goat) would KNOW about it; it's just a matter of principle. This commandment is also the basis for the kosher laws prohibiting eating any meal that contains both meat and milk from the same type of animal, for example; a cheeseburger. There is not one McDonald's in Israel that serves cheeseburgers. It is not kosher.

I may return later to address the rest of your question regarding the ten commandments.

Answer 5

I don't think they were meant as a second set of commandments. God just gave extra instruction to Moses. That would seem odd that He would have given different commandments. About the other question... another translation I read said something about not boiling a kid in it's mother's milk. It's sad someone would even consider doing such a thing!

Answer 6

Yup.

That is but one of the problems with worshiping the ten comandments as many people who call themselves Christians do.

You have to first decide which ten, (because while several of them are the same - there are a few that are diffrent betwean the two versions) and in which order you want them to be in. The first order, the second order, or the order in which Christ puts them in the New Testiment?

Better to not worship the comandments.

As Martin Luther wrote - they are not for Christians anyway - they were given to Moses - let Moses keep them.

Answer 7

This should also appear in Deuteronomy 14:21- Do not cook (seethe) a young goat (kid) in it's mother's milk, when refering to clean and unclean food. Do not profane the death of the child with the life of the mother. In Exodus, it could also be a metaphor for incest.

Answer 8

he didn't save it in a file, couldn't remember exactly I guess
"thou salt not seethe a kid in its mothers milk" is mentioned three times Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21, there is a middle eastern stew of lamb simmered in goats milk called saag I think, but it's not kosher, jews still never have meat and milk in the same meal

Answer 9

to be technical there are 613 commandments in the Torah or the first 5 books of the scriptures, ten was a condensed set.Also the boiling (seething) of a baby goat (kid) in its mothers milk is a pagan practice as for it being in the ten commandments I don't know what VERSION your reading, but it is a law given in the Torah. hope this helps

Answer 10

You need to check out eaglebrookchurch.com as they are currently doing a series on the ten commandments. The only problem is they are on commandment number 3 so you have 7 weeks to go before they get to your question.