Catholics and the Ten Commandments!

[Tall Timbers]

The NAB catholic bible is a pretty good translation, IMO. Of course it has more than 66 books in it. It's the explanations on each page that follow catholic dogma. Whether it is a good translation or a poor one in the end doesn't matter, the catholic church seems to hold it's own dogma as more important that the Bible, and of course, the church doesn't seem to have a good understanding of the Bible in the first place... or they'd know better.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Lutherans also combine 1 and 2, and split 10. Traditional Lutherans are vehemently against worshiping statues, icons, relics, or creation, praying to saints, etc.

When I was a kid, I asked about this because I had seen the other version of the Commandments and read the Bible verses, including the specifics, about graven images. I was told the graven images were anything that would detract from putting God first and worshipping only Him, so this Commandment was actually part of the first Commandment. I was also told that the last two Commandments were split because the one dealt with coveting a human being and not enticing away/sullying the reputation/relationship, and the other dealt with coveting things, and helping a neighbor maintain/retain his property (stewardship) instead of being deceitful, etc.

In any case, even though the numbering is different, the content is all there in both versions (at least as far as the Lutheran understanding and practice are concerned).

According to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs/the-bible#number

"QUESTION: Why do Lutherans not number the commandments like the other Protestants?

ANSWER: The differing enumerations of the Ten Commandments among various religious traditions is not generally regarded as a doctrinal matter dividing the churches. The Oxford Companion to the Bible (Oxford, 1993) is correct when it states: “The contents of the Ten Commandments are ... the same for all of the religious communities, despite the differences in their enumeration.”

The Lutheran Cyclopedia notes in its article on the “Decalogue” that the Bible neither numbers the commandments nor determines their respective position, and for this reason divergent enumeration has occurred.

The Jews make Exodus 20:2 the 1st Commandment, Exodus 20:3-6 the 2nd, and Exodus 20:17 the 10th.

The Eastern Orthodox and the Reformed churches make Exodus 20:2-3 the 1st, Exodus 20:4-6 the 2nd, and Exodus 20:17 the 10th.

The Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches regard Exodus 20:4 as a part of (or commentary on) the 1st Commandment (Exodus 20:3). They then draw the 2nd from Exodus 20:7, the 3rd from Exodus 20:8-11, and make Exodus 17a the 9th and Exodus 17b the 10th.

The Jews divide the Ten Commandments into two groups of five each.

Lutheran and Roman Catholics assign three commandments to the first table and seven to the second.

Eastern Orthodox and Reformed churches assign four to the first table and six to the second."


According to the Episcopal Dictionary https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/ten-commandments

Ten Commandments

"The commands, also known as the decalogue or Ten Words, given by God at Sinai in connection with the making of the covenant (Ex 20:1-17). Another slightly different version appears in the extended homily Moses delivers shortly before the entrance of the Hebrews into the Promised Land (Dt. 5:6-21). The Sinai version precedes the large collection of laws also associated with the Mosaic covenant. The Ten Commandments form the fundamental law of God for Israel and concern the cult (no other gods, no images, no misuse of God's name, observance of the Sabbath) as well as social relations (honor of parents, no killing, no adultery, no false witness, no coveting). Unlike the case law of the OT, where an offense is followed by its punishment, the Ten Commandments are categorical. Some religious communities differ from the numbering of the Ten Commandments in Anglican and reformed traditions, but agree in the content. In the NT both Jesus (Mk 10:17-22 and parallel passages) and Paul (Rom 13:8-10) affirm their continuing validity."


Institute for Creation Research (ICR) article about graven images
https://www.icr.org/article/what-graven-image