The Decalogue
The structure of the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments tablets, is complex yet purposeful. Essentially, it comprises ten edicts, most of which are expressed as prohibitions or “you shall not” commands.
There is, however, one exception – the commandment of “Honor” (or KaBuD, which signifies ‘weighty’), symbolizing grace or patience. This commandment is uniquely central, and it is written on the four edges of the tablets. This unique positioning might remind us of the phrase ‘commandment with promise’ penned by Apostle Paul.
The tablet’s layout is also striking. Each tablet is divided into a grid of 20 rows of 14 characters per line, providing 280 spaces per side. With both sides of the tablet, the total spaces amount to 624. Of these 623 spaces are occupied by letters in an unbroken sequence, leaving a single blank space to denote the starting -and ultimately ending point of the text.
The Decalogue’s format is seen clearly by simply examining His table the Exodus 20 text without spaces, only the letters. The first line itself as the covenant giver has 13 characters, the subsequent 14 character lines initially end their subject in 3 lines, but the line in-between would break a word so we learn it was written back and forth (from edge to edge). Following this zig-zag pattern, two full side sets of statements emerge, distinguishing significance in how certain words turn..
However, Our table of the Decalogue, as recorded in Deuteronomy 5, though identical at side 1 exhibits some differences on the other side more than insertions such as “as YHWH your Gods commanded you,” Counting only letters no spaces from both ends inward revealed the alignment by not counting the 5th -finding its 64 letters on the grid lines wrapping around. This causes a discrepancy in the order of the commandments the longest being the 4th (Sabbath) switches with the 5th (Honoring parents) which in particular, also got shortened in the Exodus tablet compared to ours.
Finally, the text in our version appears to have added repetitions such as “your God” and “and your cattle” in the Sabbath commandment, and the term “seventh” is also intriguingly connected with “my oath.” There’s also an interesting pattern at the end with “and” connecting similar ideas, while “his-and” or “and-your” indicating distinctions. The sequencing of these phrases and their implications in comparing the commandments provide yet another layer of interpretation.
It was a pleasant surprise to see that the cover art for this book showed a rectangular form for the tablets usually depicted as “tombstone” shaped having rounded tops (as at Serabit al-Khadim).
