Exodus 20 vs. Deuteronomy 5

Exodus 20 vs. Deuteronomy 5

Introduction

The report seeks to discuss the comparison between Exodus 20 vs. Deuteronomy 5. According to Exodus, the giving of Law at Sinai began with a public theophany, at which God spoke to the entire people (after this event, other laws communicated privately to Moses), which was preceded by the appearance of the divine fire cloud; three days of preparation; and manifestations of fire, thunder, and lightning; and accompanied by the sounding of the horn. Deuteronomy is the fifth book in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament and last of the Torah (the Pentateuch). It contains an account of the last speech of Moses to the Israelites and the story of his death, before they enter the land of Canaan, on the other side of Jordan . It is called in Hebrew Devarim that is to say lyrics, which are the first words of the text or Mishneh Torah, the repetition of the Torah. There are several piece of literature that discusses on this topic but my report covers the critical review of Friedman and Mendenhall on comparison of Exodus 20 vs. Deuteronomy 5.

Comparison

Ten Commandments, also called the Decalogue (Gr.; Ten Words), spoken by God at Mount Sinai (Ex. 20; Dt. 5). According to Exodus, the giving of Law at Sinai began with a public theophany, at which God spoke to the entire people (after this event, other laws were communicated privately to Moses), which was preceded by the appearance of the divine fire cloud; three days of preparation; and manifestations of fire, thunder, and lightning; and accompanied by the sounding of the horn. God's speech was designed to convey to the Israelites a representative sampling of the laws to be given subsequently but was in no sense to be a summary of them, much less an act of legislation in its own right . Thus, it contains some of each of the two fundamental types of religious law: those pertaining to the obligations toward God and those pertaining to his or her relations with other people. It also contains both forms of command, positive and prohibitive . “The Ten Commandments were said to be the quintessence of the Law, somehow containing or alluding to all six hundred and thirteen commandments therein (Y., Sheq. 6.1).”

According to Friedman, “the account of the giving of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy (4.9-14, 5.1-28) essentially follows that in Exodus 20.” The main difference is that Deuteronomy describes the promulgation of the Ten Commandments as a covenant in its own right and the subsequent giving of the laws as a second, complementary covenant. Deuteronomy explains that the full body of laws was communicated privately to Moses as the result of the people's fear of direct confrontation with God, a motif already adumbrated in Exodus . In both accounts, the “Ten Words” were inscribed by God in the first set of tablets given to Moses. After the worship of the golden calf, Moses smashed the original tablets, he was required ...