The original 10 Commandments are Sacred Laws written on two stone tablets, also called the Decalogue. As we know, they represent an essential point of the Old Testament for the Christian religion. According to the Bible, the plates were given by Yahweh to Moses on Mount Sinai and indicated the Laws that every good Christian must follow.
There are two biblical traditions: according to one of these, the finger wrote the stone tablets of God. According to the others, it was Moses who engraved them by the will of God. A little curiosity about Judaism: even today, on the occasion of the feast of Shavuot, the event in which Moses receives the tablets of the original 10 Commandments is celebrated.
The original 10 Commandments
On Mount Sinai, God spoke to Moses and gave him the original 10 commandments.
- You will have no other God but me
- Don’t take God’s name in vain
- Remember to keep the holidays holy
- Honor your father and mother
- Do not kill
- Do not commit unclean acts
- Do not steal
- Don’t give false testimony
- Do not desire the woman of others
- Don’t covet other people’s stuff
The original 10 Commandments as a pillar of the Christian religion
We analyzed them one by one to understand the real meaning behind each of them, with a bit of insight into those observed initially by Jesus, strongly linked to Judaism.
Before you find out where the tablets of the original 10 Commandments are located, we want to tell you a little more about the origin of their name. The name Decalogue, which means ten words, is an expression found in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Bible). In truth, the voices are more than ten, and the text, present in two versions ( Exodus and Deuteronomy ), has led to many subdivisions. Although Hebrew is the basis of the Commandments, every religion that originated from this has interpreted them differently—providing multiple meanings.
In Christianity, the original 10 Commandments are considered a backbone. Not only because they were handed down directly from God but also for their moral value, and this reason, a Christian who violates any of these commandments commits a mortal sin. What happens to the Tablets after they are handed over to Moses?
Representation of the 10 original Commandments
Source: filcatholic.org
The meaning of the original 10 commandments
In his famous sermon, a fine theologian, like the Mexican cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, explained that “the original 10 Commandments are for man, not against man. They do not take away or limit our freedom; rather, they free us. What they order is not a whim of something that is not pleasing to God, but a life plan that makes human development and a healthy relationship with others possible ”.
The Decalogue, the cardinal observed, must be an option for life: “I place life and death, good and evil, before you. And, I order you to observe the commandments so that you can live. The original 10 commandments must be the reference point. The starting point of the moral life.”
The cardinal specified that the Law was not spoken of as a burden or an imposition but as a gift that God has given us in Israel. As a light for our steps. “We have made a covenant with God, and the commandments are the sign of our belonging to Yahweh. They are the proclamation of the fact that we are chosen, people”.
The Ark of the Covenant
The Tablets are delivered to Moses with an important task: making the Ark of the Covenant. According to the Bible, it was an acacia wood chest with a large golden lid used to keep the Tablets of the Law. The ark represented a visible and tangible symbol of the divine presence among the people of Israel.
The construction and structure of the ark are described in detail in the book Exodus. As we have said, it had to be a wooden chest, covered with gold inside and outside and in the shape of a parallelepiped. Above it was a gold garland that went around it, while at the base, four gold rings were positioned under the four feet. In addition, there were acacia wood poles. Coated with gold which, once inserted between the rings at the base, were used to move the case.
The lid was supposed to be pure gold and had precise dimensions. Two cherubs ( Metatron and Sandalphon ) decorated the extremities, with their wings spread upward and their faces turned towards each other.
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The fate of the Ark of the Covenant
Inside, Moses had the task of preserving the Testimony given to him by the same God. A vase containing a small amount of manna collected by Arone. And a flowering rod of Arone. It remains to be seen whether it also included the staff of Moses. The anointing oil of the priests and kings of Israel.
However, when Solomon’s Temple was inaugurated around 960 BC. It appears that the artifact contained only the Tablets of Moses. The Ark of the Covenant has exerted a great fascination. Mainly due to the numerous hypotheses about its fate following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. According to unconfirmed theories, the artifact may have been lost before the sixth century. BC for various causes: a sacking or a fire.
At that time, so many events could justify both situations, so it is tough to understand what happened to the Ark of the Covenant.
Conclusion
Where are the tablets of the original 10 Commandments? As we have said, there are no finds of the tablets of Moses, and the fate of the artifact that was to keep them is unknown. The words engraved on the stone have been handed down to us, and we can find them in the Holy Bible.
