From Elizabeth Hayes, Christine. Introduction to the Bible (The Open Yale Courses Series) (Chapter 9, p. 128). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
Modern source theory assigns the varied bodies of legal material found in the Pentateuch to the main biblical sources as follows:
- Laws found in the JE source occur in Exodus and are believed to have been formulated in writing from earlier oral traditions in the tenth to ninth century B.C.E.;
- laws of the P source are found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers and are believed to have been formulated in writing from earlier oral traditions in the eighth to sixth century B.C.E; finally,
- laws of the D source are found in Deuteronomy and are believed to have been formulated in writing from earlier (primarily northern) traditions in the eighth to sixth century B.C.E.
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In all cases, it is supposed that the sources drew upon much older oral traditions; some individual laws are believed to be quite ancient, resembling ancient Near Eastern legal materials that date back to the second millennium B.C.E. Regardless of their actual origins, the Bible represents these materials as having been given at Sinai or in the forty-year period afterward. According to the biblical narrative, the laws given at Sinai include:
According to the biblical narrative, the following materials were given in the forty years after Sinai as the Israelites encamped in the wilderness on their journey toward the land of Canaan.
Elizabeth Hayes, Christine. Introduction to the Bible (The Open Yale Courses Series) (pp. 128-129). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
For a more complete info collection about the Decalogues go here to a page at this site.
The Pentateuch contains three versions of the Decalogue, and there are differences among them.
- The Exodus 20 Decalogue is repeated in Deuteronomy 5 with minor variations: Deuteronomy prohibits vain testimony (Deut 5:16) while Exodus prohibits false testimony (Ex 20:12);
- Israel is to “keep” the Sabbath day (Deut 5:16) rather than “remember” it (Ex 20:7); the rationale for observing the Sabbath is different (cf. Deut 5:14 and Ex 20:10); and
- the final commandment singles out the neighbor’s wife before listing other entities that must not be coveted (Deut 5:17; cf. Ex 20:13).
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What are we to make of these variations in the description of what was deemed to be a climactic moment of divine revelation?
Elizabeth Hayes, Christine. Introduction to the Bible (The Open Yale Courses Series) (pp. 129-131). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
