The pattern in the 10 Commandments is what is called a parallelism , with themes repeated in the same order twice . In this case the 1st Commandment parallels with the 6th Commandment , the 2nd with the 7th , the 3rd with the 8th , the 4th with the 9th , and the 5th with the 10th . There are all aspects of each of the commandments and is set to help us to understand the other part of each of the parallel commandments in deeper ways .
The 1st Commandment ( according to Jewish counting of the 10 Words )— that Adonai is our God who brought His people up from the land of Egypt — parallels the 6th word in commanding us not to commit murder . These are statements of identity and the importance of who someone is . Killing an animal is not murder because they are not made in the image of God . Murdering another human is an affront to the God who made them . The living God who acts according to His own word commands us to honor the life He created just because He made that life to be in His own image . All of the other commandments draw from this same place of identity and the value of life first .
The 2nd Commandment that we should have no other gods before Adonai and make no graven images to worship them is parallel to the 7th Commandment of do not commit adultery . Even a cursory reading of the prophets reveals this parallel often when the prophets say that Israel was prostituting itself or committing
A U G U S T 2 0 2 4 • T I K K U N A M E R I C A R E S T O R E | 2 9