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There are [[Alleged Bible contradictions|two versions]], generally similar but somewhat different in wording: [[Exodus]] 20:2-17<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2020:2-17&version=9 Exodus 20:2-17 (KJV)]</ref> and [[Deuteronomy]] 5:6-21<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy%205:6-21;&version=9; Deuteronomy 5:6-21 (KJV)]</ref>. The version in Deuteronomy adds the detail of Moses saying that [[Yahweh|God]] "delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God." (KJV)

There are [[Alleged Bible contradictions|two versions]], generally similar but somewhat different in wording: [[Exodus]] 20:2-17<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2020:2-17&version=9 Exodus 20:2-17 (KJV)]</ref> and [[Deuteronomy]] 5:6-21<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy%205:6-21;&version=9; Deuteronomy 5:6-21 (KJV)]</ref>. The version in Deuteronomy adds the detail of Moses saying that [[Yahweh|God]] "delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God." (KJV)

The Bible itself refers to there being "''ten'' commandments" in Exodus 34:28<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2034:10-28;&version=9; Exodus 34:10-28 (KJV)]</ref> and Deuteronomy 4:13<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy%204:13;&version=9; Deuteronomy 4:13 (KJV)]</ref>, but it is not clear how to parcel out the fifteen or sixteen verses into ten commandments, and different religious groups have done this in different ways. For example, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" (KJV - see below) are sometimes considered to be two different commandments and sometimes as two parts of the same commandment.

The Bible itself refers to there being "''ten'' commandments" in Exodus 34:28<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2034:10-28;&version=9; Exodus 34:10-28 (KJV)]</ref> and Deuteronomy 4:13<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy%204:13;&version=9; Deuteronomy 4:13 (KJV)]</ref>, but it is not clear how to parcel out the fifteen or sixteen verses into ten commandments, and different religious groups have done this in different ways.

[[Protestantism|Protestant]]s assign the Fifth Commandment to "honor thy father and thy mother," but in [[Catholic]] texts this is the Fourth Commandment.<ref>An atheistic website provides a comparison among faiths with respect to the Ten Commandments, and many sources: http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm</ref> The Jewish tradition is to call that requirement the Fifth Commandment.

The Protestant Ten Commandments, stressing their opposition to statues, contain "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" as the 2nd commandment. The Catholic Ten Commandments omit this, shifting the Commandments up while splitting "Thou shalt not covet" into "...thy neighbor's wife" (9th) and "...thy neighbor's goods" (10th).

 

The Jewish Ten Commandments, like the Protestant Ten Commandments, lists "honor thy father and thy mother" as the 5th Commandment. <ref>An atheistic website provides a comparison among faiths with respect to the Ten Commandments, and many sources: http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm</ref>

However, as Jewish people would also recognize, the ''[[Torah]]'', or [[Law]] (the first five books of the Old Testament) actually contains not ten, but [[Mosaic Law|613 positive and negative commandments]]. Thus, when [[Jesus]] is asked (at [[Matthew]] 22:34-36) which is the greatest commandment in the Law, he picks two of the other 603: 'You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength' (Deuteronomy 6:5) and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' ([[Leviticus]] 19:18).  

However, as Jewish people would also recognize, the ''[[Torah]]'', or [[Law]] (the first five books of the Old Testament) actually contains not ten, but [[Mosaic Law|613 positive and negative commandments]]. Thus, when [[Jesus]] is asked (at [[Matthew]] 22:34-36) which is the greatest commandment in the Law, he picks two of the other 603: 'You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength' (Deuteronomy 6:5) and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' ([[Leviticus]] 19:18).  

==The Ten Commandments in US law==

==The Ten Commandments in US law==

In several controversies over the legality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government property, and especially outside courthouses, the influence of the Ten Commandments on US law becomes relevant as proponents of the displays argue that these commandments form part of the foundation of the US legal system.

In several controversies over the legality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government property, and especially outside courthouses, the influence of the Ten Commandments on US law (and western law in general) becomes relevant as proponents of the displays argue that these commandments form part of the foundation of the US legal system.

# Some official U.S. documents accept the existence of God, although there is no specifics in U.S. law as to who this God is, and the [[First Amendment]] to the Constitution is interpreted as opposing any attempt to impose the belief or non-belief in God.

# Some official U.S. documents accept the existence of God, although there is no specifics in U.S. law as to who this God is, and the [[First Amendment]] to the Constitution is interpreted as opposing any attempt to impose the belief or non-belief in God.