It was never intended for church or personal pietistic purposes
Both secular and Christian people in our modern time commonly misunderstand the primary intent of the Ten Commandments. Robert Shinkoskey, in his book Democracy and the Ten Commandments, correctly opines that “Christians say that those ancient laws are best interpreted as individual morality, community ethics, and good religion; ….[for use] as a simple religious catechism; ….The Christian church today has refashioned historical reality, kidnapped it really, by re-making ten commandment law to serve selfish, though at times well-intentioned, interests. The church has de-politicized, de-intellectualized, de-humanized, and misinterpreted the original civic law of the land of Israel, and, in the process, their own Old Testament scripture. Early Jewish rabbis [after their exile and loss of political independence] may have done something similar, too, when they turned the public law of Israel into private law to regulate life revolving around the synagogue….They have contented themselves to regulate theological belief and congregational solidarity without much thought for constitutional theory, government organization, and community action….”
Interpreting the meaning of Scripture first begins with the primary audience. To whom is a book or letter written and in what time period and cultural context. A book by Craig Keener entitled Bible Background Commentary New Testament is a helpful example of how to understand context for Scripture. Most Christians today will never approach it that way and thus will often never understand how the original audience would have understood it. There is still plenty of personal benefit of course, but inevitably the typical believer reads the Bible as a devotional aid for what personal inspiration and moral guidance they need as individuals. Likewise, many pastors will teach the Scripture this same way. Only the serious student of Scripture will go the extra step to understand it for what it meant to the people that heard at that time it was written.
The Ten Commandments is perhaps the most misunderstood of all Scripture passages. In almost every modern Bible commentary by theologians and pastors, it is explained as ideals for personal morality and ethics. The same is true for most of the creeds and confessions produced by the Protestant Reformation (in their effort to keep distance from the political corruptions of the Catholic medieval era). They will often state that the first four commandments (i.e. the first table) is about how to worship God, and the other six (second table) is about our relationships with others and with society. Of course, there is nothing bad about teaching it this way, but the problem is that the Ten Commandments were not written for that purpose.
The primary audience was the government leaders; i.e. elders, of the nation of Israel. Note that the elders were not church elders or the way we think of New Testament elders; i.e. pastors and priests. No, the elders of Israel were the senior statesmen responsible for civic affairs. The priests were responsible for religious affairs and matters of redemption (i.e, sacrifices, etc), but elders handled public policy.
God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses; himself not a priest, but more like a national elder; and directed him to gather the elders and submit this law to them (Exod 19:7,8). They of course then explained this law to their tribes and citizens, but the commandments were addressed to the elders; i.e. government leaders.
So when each begin with “Thou shalt not…” the elders understood that it was directly referring to them. In other words, the government leaders are not permitted to do something with their state authority for certain things. It was fundamentally a statement of limits of government power. It was not addressing the typical citizen or individual at all. Of course, a citizen should not steal as well, but the main point is that the government should not use its power and position to steal.
Unfortunately, most Bible commentaries are written by religious leaders (theologians and pastors) and therefore explain everything through the religious lens: How the Ten Commandments should be taught in the church or studied by church members. Most catechisms are written in this way. It is hard to find commentaries on the Ten Commandments from a legal or governmental viewpoint, especially with knowledge of the audience and culture of the time. In reality most commentary that has this viewpoint are from early church fathers and thinkers of the Middle Ages and Reformation period that are lesser known and often out of print today. (For example, an 18th century book: Commentaries on the Laws of Moses by the German John Michaelis. And there are many sources from a wide variety of eras and geographic regions such as 6th century Byzantine (Justinian’s) law or 9th century English (Alfred’s) law, that apply the Commandments as they were intended legally instead of for just personal piety.) So, it takes much effort to benefit from the previous understandings in church history. Fortunately for me, my constant life-long pursuit is finding how previous generations of Christian leaders thought and understood Biblical concepts of law and government (earning a Ph.D. in Christian Thought along the way).
In my next series of blogs I will be discussing the Ten Commandments the way they were understood by the elders of Israel. Be sure to subscribe below if you want to access important supplementary material that supports my views.
Today’s subscriber-only content is my summary of how Robert Shinkoskey understands the Ten Commandments. I do not agree in every detail but it is worth considering.
The content below was originally paywalled.
Shinkoskey’s Explanation of the Ten Commandments
Excerpts from Democracy and the Ten Commandments by Robert Kimball Shinkoskey, 2016
[He has a while chapter for each commandment and is best if you read his whole explanation with Scripture supports.]
The ten articles used to structure Israel’s national government and guide its relationships with its autonomous constituent tribes, clans and families resulted from specific circumstances in Egypt that they wanted to guard against in Canaan. These circumstances included the absence of several things: free intellectual life, a free economy, self-directed labor and leisure time, stable family relationships, long life, national independence, land stewardship, justice, and public health and wellness measures for all of the people. For that reason, Israel enacted constitutional precepts and legislative policies in those areas once free of Egypt.
The first and second government commandments set parameters for the limited power to be exercised by the national government, while also granting basic freedom to the people. It specifically prescribed a mechanism for decision-making on the national level by setting up legislative and executive/administrative functions, both of which were accountable to the people. The legislative and executive departments exercised the judicial function until the time when an independent judicial branch was set up.
1. The Legislative Power and Strict Construction. Have no other gods than the God who empowers the elder representatives to make decisions for all of the people. Do not mess with the fundamental constitutional law. The commandments are to be strictly interpreted and not altered.
2. The Executive Power. The people shall not make the national elected magistrate into a long-term celebrity who uses a precious metal bull symbol to represent his considerable power. They must not allow him to run people’s lives in place of the more intellectually balanced and numerous legislature. The government shall not tax the people to set up a well-heeled national treasury used to finance the leader’s wars. The people must always remember the idol made of gold bullion that Aaron agreed to cast to back the new government at Sinai, and that Moses convinced the people to destroy.
The third and fourth commandments freed the private economy, which consisted mainly of the labor and commerce involving individual families, while also setting boundaries on the use of labor in the free economy. The third commandment also authorized the judicial function.
3. Empowering Private Sector and The Judicial Power. The people shall be free to make all manner of agreements with one another and solemnize them by using the name of God (essentially in the name of the government), particularly in social and economic matters. Those agreements will have force of law, unless disputed or broken (taken in vain), in which case a public judiciary shall intervene and make a decision.
4. The Nation’s Workforce. A period of rest after a standard work week is mandatory in Israel, in order that the citizenry should not be slaves in Israel as they were in Egypt. Rest is “holy,” that is, necessary, right, healing, humane, empowering. A democratic citizenry have much in the way of education (secular and sacred), political assembly, and community service to accomplish outside of economic labor alone.
The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth commandments gave local government all the basic police powers—the ability to regulate all social, political and economic relations, including power to regulate local lives, properties and lands. These powers encompassed all critical issues related to protection of life, property, and liberty, including the power to call out the militia for war. The sixth and seventh articles also spoke to foreign policy in a firm way that all could understand. It made clear that war policy and foreign policy were decided by tribes, clans, families, and individuals and were merely administered by the chief magistrate. The commandments also gave authority for locally mandated education in law and science, and application of that knowledge in the work done by individual citizens, local court and correctional agencies and the communities of the realm.
5. The Autonomy of Local Government. Family government has the bulk of the “police” power in Israel, the sovereign ability to lay down the law for children, and likely also for hired workers, debt workers, apprentices, and sojourners within their estate boundaries. The national government must stay out of the way of parents.
6. The Right to Long Life. There shall be no domestic political killing, no executive department war-making, no standing army, and no mandatory military conscription by the government in Israel. Neither shall Israel’s citizenry kill except at times and in ways prescribed in law decided by the people.
7. Socio-sexual Conduct Among Government Officials. Israel’s national magistrate shall not make political marriages with the nobility of other countries, shall not make international alliances, shall not take additional wives from among the citizenry, shall not make an incestuous marriage in order to marry within a politically favored family, and shall not betray the trust of the original marriage partner. Neither shall Israel’s citizens commit any such kind of adultery.
8. The People and Their Lands. There shall be no government taking of private property—especially land. Neither shall there be any taking by employers, bankers, or private citizens of the property and land of citizens and especially the property of the poor, unless subject to humane laws specifying their return. In particular, there shall be no charging of interest, withholding of wages, and moving of boundary markers.
The ninth and tenth commandments set parameters for the operation of local government: the philosophy and method for accomplishing criminal and civil justice and for deciding health, education and welfare policy and programs.
9. The System of Justice. There shall be a proper system of justice and due process for treating fellow citizens, including truthful testimony concerning the neighbor at court and non-malignant conversation about neighbors among the citizenry. The justice system shall utilize reputable witnesses at trial, cities of refuge for accused felons, and judges who refuse to accept bribes.
10. Citizenship Requirements. Israel’s government and citizens shall protect the private property and promote all of the interests and rights of the neighbor. Thus, Israel shall require diligent citizenship activity from its people, including protection of the health of the many. This shall be accomplished by banning sexual contact with and limiting undue socializing with the neighbor, by respecting the quarantine of impure (diseased) persons and animals, and avoiding contact with clothing and other personal effects of householders and workers. Israel shall also require circumcision as a public health measure for the prevention of the spread of sexual disease. Israel shall welcome immigrants to its system of republican government, and shall treat all naturalized citizens as equals under the law. There shall be laws to enforce an anti-sumptuary, anti-luxury, anti-nobility system of plain living among the citizenry. These laws shall preclude the government and any of the citizenry from excessive accumulation of property from out of the hands of the other citizens.