Where did the idea of the "Ten Commandments" come from?

Question

Please see the WHOLE video before answering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ke0JY75z94&NR

So....?

Answer 1

The Ten Commandments were certainly influenced by Hammurabi, but his were WAY better.

It might be even more interesting to note that they are NOT the basis for the U.S. government's laws (and I would argue that they are not very useful to boot):

The U.S.'s society is entirely opposed to the first four, and 10th of the ten commandments (just read the Bill of Rights for the first three and capitalism counters the fourth and last as it is based in coveting more and working more).

Adultery, (number 7) though not condoned, is not illegal (It is naturally regarded as immoral--but then it always has been, by all societies, before and since the time of Moses, for the simple reason that it, like lying, theft, and murder, does harm to others)

and number 5, "honor your parents", is counterproductive to civic reform (indeed, it is by NOT following this one that most social reform took place in the U.S.)

as for the last three, pretty obvious ones for a successful society, but even these could be shortened to Just "do no harm" . (Apparently, God wasn't in a clever mood)


Actually, the guy who had it going was Solon the Athenian (see link), He was the originator of the democratic ideals we know here in the U.S. (and a far better writer than Moses)

Answer 2

One of the most treasured possessions of the Louvre Museum is an upright black stone slab nearly eight feet (exactly 2.25 m) tall and commonly known as the “Code of Hammurabi.” Under a relief showing King Hammurabi of Babylon receiving authority from the sun-god Shamash, there are 282 laws written in columns of cuneiform writing. Since Hammurabi is said to have reigned from 1728 to 1686 B.C.E., some Bible critics have claimed that Moses, who recorded the laws of Israel over a century and a half later, merely plagiarized the code of this Babylonian king. Giving the lie to this accusation, W. J. Martin writes in the book Documents from Old Testament Times:

“Despite many resemblances, there is no ground for assuming any direct borrowing by the Hebrew from the Babylonian. Even where the two sets of laws differ little in the letter, they differ much in the spirit. For example, in the Hammurabi Code, theft and receiving stolen goods were punished by the death penalty (Laws 6 and 22), but in Israel’s laws the punishment was compensation. (Ex. 22:1; Lev. 6:1-5) Whereas the Mosaic law forbade handing over an escaped slave to his master (Deut. 23:15, 16), the Babylonian laws punished by death anyone taking in a fugitive slave.—Laws 15, 16, 19.”

In the Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible, French Orientalist Joseph Plessis wrote: “It does not appear that the Hebrew legislator made any use of the various codes of Babylonia and Assyria. Nothing in his work can be proved to have been borrowed. Although there are interesting similarities, they are not such that they cannot easily be explained by the codifying of customs shared by people with a common origin.”

Whereas the Code of Hammurabi reflects a spirit of retaliation, the Mosaic law states: “You must not hate your brother in your heart. . . . You must not take vengeance nor have a grudge against the sons of your people; and you must love your fellow as yourself.” (Lev. 19:17, 18) So not only is it proved that Moses did not borrow from Hammurabi but a comparison of the Bible laws and those inscribed on the tablets and steles dug up by archaeologists shows the Biblical laws to be far superior to those governing other ancient peoples.

Answer 3

It is not just an idea, it was a law code given directly by God to Moses.

as for the video...
1) No one has seen God (otherwise that person will die and wont tell to live what God looks like), so he obviously had a wrong picture of Jehovah.
2) the tablets given to Moses contain only 10 commandments so there cannot be more than 10 similarities in case there were...

Answer 4

First of all....the verses from the Bible that UTube guy quoted from are erroneous in that they are not part of the 10 commandments but the law of Moses.
The 10 commandments are the "thou shalt not's" not the "eye for an eye" he erroneously quoted.

Second...the first humans saw the true and living God. The creator who is just. Way before Babylonia and Mesopotamia ect...so who came first? The God of the Bible. He was around before writing on stone tablets was ever invented.

3rd...It makes sense to me that the God that created all mankind would instill the same sense of justice in all human beings because we were originally created in His image. So all human beings would believe in fairness and justice in some form.
An eye for an eye or similar retribution for a crime committed is easy logic. The Bible didn't copy the pagans. The pagans copied the God of the Bible.

Answer 5

I'm not going to watch your video. I will say that in Hebrew theology, ten is the # of testimony, so while reading Exodus 20 might look as if there are 20 or so, the commentators boiled them down to ten (with details). That's where it came from: God.

Answer 6

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

TALK ABOUT OUT OF CONTEXT.

The 10 commandments are 10 sentences.

Those 'similarities' about moses and hammurabi and two different things.

The Law of Hammurabi, written on a huge tablet, and Moses TALKING. Moses did not recieve that on a tablet from God. He recieved it through communication and faith, and used it to govern the people. The 10 Commandments he recieved on a tablet, which are similar but not as close as he describes.

Sorry if that was overbearing.

Answer 7

The ten Commandments came directly from God himself and was given to Moses to give to the nation of Israel at Ex ch 20 and from no other source Gorbalizer

Answer 8

Nice video!

I'm studying to be a paralegal, and when we studed law, Hammurabi's Code was mentioned in "Origins of Law". No mention of Moses. Perhaps the whole "Parting the Red Sea" story tainted his credibility.

Answer 9

Read Exodus

Answer 10

Youtube is biased. Exodus 20 is were they come from.