By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO—A Passover week special on the Ten Commandments broadcast last night by the History Channel suggests that every one of the well-known ten laws carried down Mt. Sinai by Moses were subsequently the subjects of extensive modifications or controversies. The program, bringing together Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars, examined the commandments one by one.  Here are some highlights:

I. Thou Shalt Have No Other God Before Me—When Moses received the Law most peoples—even some of the "mixed multitude" who left Egypt with Moses—believed in a variety of gods. Among the deities competing for people's allegiance was Baal, whom the Canaanites worshiped as a god of fertility.  They believed they needed Baal's blessing not only for fertile fields but also to ensure human reproduction. Among the enticements to the worship of Baal was religiously-sanctioned prostitution.  Over time the Western world came to accept the notion of a single God.  The controversy changed from "which God" to "which religion is the path to the one true God."

II. Thou Shalt Make No Graven Images—During Passover, we of course remember the Golden Ox constructed by Moses' anxious followers during the time he was up on Mount Sinai. But in the Christian era, the images of Jesus on the cross, paintings of episodes in his life, and relics and images of saints all were ruled acceptable by the Roman Catholic Church because they helped poor, illiterate people to understand the stories of Scriptures.  In the words of Pope Gregory, they were "the Bible of the poor." These Roman Catholic practices not only differed from those of Jews and Muslims but, after the Protestant Reformation, were the subject of intense battles. Protestants pulled down and destroyed such images as sacrilegious, resulting in sectarian warfare between Roman Catholics and Protestants that still has its echoes today in places like Northern Ireland.

III.  Thou Shalt Not Take The Lord's Name in Vain—In biblical days, words themselves were believed to have power. People believed that other people could call upon gods to do their bidding.  But God was saying, in essence, "I am the Creator, you don't tell Me what to do; I tell you what to do."  The idea developed that taking God's name in vain was akin to trying to own or possess God. To guard against this, observant Jews never pronounce the name of God.  In the Middle Ages, people took oaths that they would perform this or that task, saying that if they failed to carry out their promises, "may God strike me down."  In the legal system, people are asked to swear that they will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, "so help me God." When King Henry VIII of England authorized the Bible to be printed, more people had direct knowledge of their religious obligations.. Over the years, the notions of the words "sacred" and "profane" changed.  Originally "sacred" referred to things that happened inside the temple, while "profane" described things that happened outside the temple.  Things that were "profane" were not necessarily bad, just outside the temple. The Puritans broadened the definition of profanity to include all kinds of proscribed speech, not only the kind in which the name of God is misused, but also crude references to sex, bodily functions and the like.

IV. Remember the Sabbath Day and Keep It Holy—The concept of setting aside one day of the week for rest comes both from the Creation story in Genesis, in which God rests on the seventh day, and from the Exodus, in which Hebrews were instructed to remember that they were once slaves in Egypt. Never being slaves again meant never enslaving themselves to work.  Rabbis enumerated acts that were considered work, and which therefore were forbidden on the Sabbath.  Later, other rabbis offered different opinions.  The Roman Emperor Constantine, meanwhile, decreed that Christians should celebrate the Sabbath not on Saturdays but on Sundays to commemorate the day on which they believe Jesus  was resurrected. Puritans adopted very strict codes about what could not be done on Sundays, including kissing.  In one instance a sea captain who returned home after a long voyage on a Sunday and kissed his wife was punished.  Throughout the United States, Sunday laws—also called "blue laws," perhaps in reference to "blue" or "naughty" speech—were enacted, resulting in various court decisions striking them down as violations of the constitutional doctrine requiring separation of Church and State.

The preceding four commandments, dealing with man's relationship to God,  were treated in the first hour of the two-hour special.. In the second hour of the special, the remaining six commandments regulating man's relationship with man, were discussed. Scholars interviewed throughout the program were Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, Jeffrey Ventrella, Kenneth Reinhard, Mehnaz Alfridi, Alan Dershowitz,  Laurie Levenson, Barbara Pitkin, Paul Seaver, Lawrence Friedman, and Michael Roth.

V.  Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father—This commandment is viewed as a bridge between the laws governing relationships with God and those dealing with relations with other men inasmuch as God was seen as a parent to men whereas men were seen as authorities who governed the lives of their children. Societies in biblical days were organized around the family or the clan.  Property and leadership were passed from the father to the eldest son.  It was incumbent upon the son to take care of his widowed mother, lest the societal order break down. Among the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony, a stubborn or rebellious son could be put to death—although this sanction rarely was applied. 

VI.  Thou Shalt Not Kill—Even today there is debate whether this commandment simply means "Thou Shalt Not Murder," with some scholars pointing to justifications for acts of self-defense,  actions in a military conflict, and legal executions.  Others say the commandment prohibits the taking of life generally.  The commandment is often cited in the debate over abortion.  In biblical times all kinds of offenses were punishable by death, but gradually the concept of proportionality arose as expressed in the maxim "an eye for an eye," which was not a call for vengeance, as some misinterpret it, but a call for not permitting the punishment to exceed the crime. In the Middle Ages, before systems of evidence were developed, people could prove or disprove their innocence in a murder case by submitting to an ordeal.  If they survived the ordeal, or came through it unscathed, they were believed to be innocent; otherwise, they were believed to be guilty. As the legal system developed, the penalties were differentiated  for different kinds of homicides such as manslaughter, second-degree murder and first-degree murder.

VII. Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery—In biblical societies, adultery had disastrous consequences because it confused the way land or other possessions were distributed.  How could an eldest son receive property from a father whose identity was unknown?  In later times, when large classes of people were without property, adultery became considered a less serious crime.  Adultery was revived as a major prohibited behavior during the Puritan era with offenders shamed by being put into stocks or being required to sew a scarlet letter "A" on their clothing.  In the Victorian era, it was recognized that adultery and other vices could not be stamped out, but they could be hidden or contained. Punishment was levied in instances of adulteries that were "open and notorious."  Today, in the United States, people are not punished for adultery unless they are famous, such as former President Bill Clinton. In some traditional Muslim societies, such as Nigeria, however, a woman still can be stoned to death for committing adultery, and there are "honor killings" in which the adulterous woman is put to death by the men of her family.

VIII.  Thou Shalt Not Steal—In biblical days, poor people were entitled to glean food for themselves from a farmer's fields; this was not considered stealing unless they attempted to carry the food away in a container. If someone stole livestock, they were required to pay back twice the number of livestock.  In other societies, thieves were mutilated either by branding or by having their hands cut off.  In medieval England, death was the penalty for stealing anything worth more than 12 pence.  The Puritans in America didn't exact death for thievery, but did brand a thief's thumbs.  By the 18th century, types of thefts became categorized and penalties were scaled to the crime. Thefts involving the threat of bodily injury were dealt with more harshly than theft with no such threat such as burglaries and so-called white collar crimes.

IX. Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness—In biblical days, the words of a witness—rather than physical evidence—were the way one could prove guilt or innocence. To prevent people from lying to judges, biblical society said anyone caught lying about the defendant would face the exact same penalty that the defendant did.  Today, perjury is a crime charged by prosecutors who can't prove or don't wish to prosecute other crimes.  For example, President Clinton was not prosecuted for committing adultery, he was prosecuted for lying under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.  Most cases of perjury are not prosecuted in American courts.

X.  Thou Shalt Not Covet Anything That Is Thy Neighbor's—This is perhaps the most controversial commandment of all because, in the view of some scholars,  it seems to proscribe what a person thinks as opposed to what a person does. Perhaps this was because coveting something—whether it be a person's wife, or property, or land—could lead to the violation of other commandments.  Other scholars say "coveting" does not mean merely thinking about something, it means actively making plans to do something.  In Muslim societies, it is believed that men cannot control their tendency to covet women, and therefore women are required to cover themselves in modest clothing.  In the United States, where mass advertising is aimed at getting people to covet all sorts of things, the Tenth Commandment is violated on a continual basis. The Tenth Commandment is inconsistent with capitalism.