The Necessity of Using Biblical Terminology

Before we can ever expect to understand what the Bible means, we must be certain that we know exactly what it says. In this present study, it is essential that we understand what the Word of God itself says about the Ten Commandments. We should always begin the study of any biblical doctrine with a clear understanding of the terminology used by the Holy Spirit. Initially, we will look up the meaning of the words ‘Ten Commandments’ in all the texts of Scripture where those words are used. We will then survey the words that are used as synonyms for the Ten Commandments. This will give us a clear biblical picture of how God wants us to think of the words that he wrote on stone tables at Mount Sinai.

Where do the words the “Ten Commandments” first appear in the Bible?

These words first occur in Exodus 34:28, when the Ten Commandments were written on tablets of stone and given to the nation of Israel as the basic terms of a covenant. Here is the verse and context:

And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. (Exod 34:27, 28)

Some Bible commentators make much of what they call ‘the law of first mention’. This principle states that the first mention of anything in Scripture provides the key to understanding the biblical meaning of that particular item or subject. We question how far we can push this rule; however, it is true that the law of first mention is often useful. As we proceed with this study, the significance of Sinai as the setting of the first scriptural occurrence of the words ‘Ten Commandments’ will be made clear. For now, we can say that the initial introduction of the words ‘Ten Commandments’ in the Word of God is very instructive. The following facts are presented:

1. The Ten Commandments were written on tablets of stone by God himself. 
2. This event occurred at Mount Sinai when God entered into a special and unique covenant relationship with the nation of Israel.
3. The Ten Commandments were specifically ‘a covenant document’ and were called the ‘words of the covenant’ when they were written on the tablets at Mount Sinai. “…after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant …he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”
4. The Ten Commandments, as a covenant document, were given only to the nation of Israel. “…after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.”

These four facts should always be associated in our minds with the ‘Ten Commandments’ when those words, or their synonyms, are used in the Bible. In this text (Exod. 34:27, 28), the term ‘the Ten Commandments’ is equivalent to the phrase ‘covenant’ and the similar phrase ‘words of the covenant.’ Our first introduction to the expression ‘the Ten Commandments’ in the Bible is “…after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel…and he wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.” Neither the Old Testament Scriptures nor the New Testament Scriptures will ever change what this text states about the Ten Commandments. The nature, purpose, and function of the Ten Commandments will always be consistent with this first mention of them in the Bible. They are never called or treated as ‘the unchanging moral law of God’ either here in the Exodus passage that introduces them or anywhere else in Scripture. To call the Ten Commandments the ‘moral law of God’ is to use a purely theological term^[1] that is without any textual support from either this introductory passage or any other passage in Scripture. We will say more about this later.^[2] 

It is essential that we firmly grasp and hold on to these biblical facts as set forth in the verses that first introduce us to the phrase ‘the Ten Commandments’ and its synonyms. We should tattoo on our brains the concept that ‘Israel’, ‘the Ten Commandments,’ ‘Mount Sinai,’ ‘the tables of stone,’ and ‘the words of the covenant,’ are expressions that always go together in the Word of God. Any discussion of the Ten Commandments that in any way separates that phrase from the ‘words of the covenant’ written on the tables of stone and given to Israel at Sinai does not follow the scriptural pattern for use of those terms. We must read these verses carefully and listen to what they say in order to understand correctly the nature, place and function of the Ten Commandments in the history of redemption. If we do not start our study with a correct understanding of the initial use of the term, we can hardly expect to understand later uses of the same term. 

How common is the use of the words ‘Ten Commandments’ in the Bible?

The words ‘Ten Commandments’ are only used three times in the entire Bible. This usually shocks people. The words are used in Exodus 34:28 (quoted above) and in Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4.

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. (Deut. 4:13)

And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly… (Deut. 10:4)

These two texts repeat the same facts presented in Exodus 34:28. Deuteronomy 4:13 is even more emphatic than Exodus 34:28 concerning the nature of the Ten Commandments. The verse starts with God ‘declaring his covenant’ and then specifically emphasizes, by using the word even, that the covenant made with Israel was the Ten Commandments. The New Testament Scriptures never once use the words ‘the Ten Commandments,’ nor do any of the Old Testament prophets use the term in any of their teachings, rebukes, or exhortations. The writers of the Psalms have much to say about ‘law’ and ‘commandments’ but not a single one of them, including the author of Psalm 119, ever uses the words ‘the Ten Commandments’. There is no biblical evidence for calling the Ten Commandments the moral law of God.

The only references in the entire Bible to the Ten Commandments as a unit, or a specific document, are the three verses that are connected with Israel at Mount Sinai when the God wrote the Ten Commandments on the tables of stone with his finger and gave them to Israel as the terms of a covenant document. It is essential that the words ‘the Ten Commandments’ always be thought of as a single unit and as a covenant document. The individual commandments may, or may not, continue in force, as independent and specific commandments, long after the tables of stone end as a covenant document. We will say more about this later. Many theologians tend to ignore this clear and important biblical fact. Little wonder there is so much confusion and so many arguments over the true meaning and biblical significance of the Ten Commandments. In the Scripture, the Ten Commandments are called the terms of a specific covenant: too many theologians ignore that truth and proceed to refer to them, without a shred of textual support, as the moral law. No writer of Scripture ever called the Ten Commandments the moral law. They are only ‘commonly called’ that by theologians. 

What other terms used in the Bible are synonymous and interchangeable with the words ‘Ten Commandments’?

There are at least five other words or phrases that are used in Scripture to refer to the Ten Commandments, or ‘words of the covenant’. We will list them singly and give a sample of their occurrences. The first reference for each phrase will usually be its initial appearance in Scripture. It will greatly help us to understand the nature, purpose and function of the Ten Commandments if we realize that we may substitute any of the following five terms in place of the words ‘Ten Commandments’. All of these phrases mean exactly the same thing when used in the Bible. If your view of the Ten Commandments will not allow you to substitute any of the following terms, then you do not have a biblical view of Ten Commandments.

1. The Tables of Stone: This phrase, used fourteen times, is one of the most common ways in which the Bible refers to the Ten Commandments. This usually surprises people who have never carefully examined how the Holy Spirit refers to the words written with God’s finger at Sinai. Let us look at some specific texts of Scripture:

And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. (Exod. 24:12)

Notice that the words “tables of stone” are separated from “and a law, and commandments.” All agree that the tables of stone are special and unique. However, the reason for their uniqueness has nothing to do with their identity as the so-called moral law, but rather with the fact that they are the summary covenant document that established Israel’s special national covenant status before God. 

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. (Deut. 4:13) 

In this passage, the Ten Commandments are specifically called ‘his covenant’, which God wrote on the tables of stone. We must take seriously the words the Holy Spirit uses. The Ten Commandments are a covenant document given to Israel alone; they are not an unchanging moral code for all people in all ages. When we look at the actual words in the Bible texts, it is impossible not to see that the Ten Commandments were the covenant terms that Israel was ‘to perform’. More laws and ceremonies were added to the covenant arrangement as covenant terms, and the entire Mosaic administration became know as the ‘Old Covenant’. However, the Ten Commandments were still treated in a very special and unique manner and were still the summary covenant document kept in the ark of the covenant. 

And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. (Deut. 9:10)

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. (1 Kings 8:9)

Again, the phrase ‘tables of stone’ is interchangeable with the word ‘covenant’, and the covenant to which this specifically refers is the covenant made with Israel at Sinai. 

Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. (2 Cor. 3:3)

It is strange to hear men argue that the Ten Commandments are the ‘unchanging moral law’ simply because God wrote them on stone tables. According to this argument, the medium of stone proves unchanging permanence. Paul argues the opposite. He insists that the covenant written in stone was not permanent, but only temporary, exactly because that covenant was written on stone. This very feature proves how inferior the covenant terms written on it were to the New Covenant written in the heart. There can be no doubt that Paul’s use of ‘tables of stone’ in 2 Corinthians 3:7-9 is a reference to the Ten Commandments.

Again, we note that every reference in the Bible to ‘the tables of stone’, like its synonym, the Ten Commandments, is connected to Mount Sinai and the covenant given to Israel. This is the uniform meaning that the Holy Spirit gives to the Ten Commandments when he refers to them as a unit, regardless of which particular term is used. The ‘Ten Commandments’ and the ‘tables of stone’ are the same thing with the same meaning in the Scripture.

2. The Tables of Testimony: The second term used interchangeably with the ‘Ten Commandments’ is ‘tables of testimony’. This term is used only twice; both times in the book of Exodus. Again, both references are to Sinai when God gave the ‘tables of testimony’ (Ten Commandments) as a written record of the covenant conditions that would be used as the legal testimony against Israel if they broke the covenant. No preacher or writer in my experience has applied this biblical term to the Ten Commandments. Such an omission is most regrettable. Here are the two textual references:

And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. (Exod. 31:18)

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of Testimony in his hand, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. (Exod. 34:29 NIV)

The term ‘tables of testimony’, like the preceding two terms, is always connected with God’s transaction with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai when he entered into a special covenantal relationship with them. The Ten Commandments, the tables of stone, and the tables of testimony are equivalent terms in the Scriptures.

3. The Testimony: The word ‘testimony’ is used more often than any other word or phrase to describe the Ten Commandments. The first instance occurs when God gives Moses instructions concerning the building of the ark of the covenant to house the testimony, or the Ten Commandments. Later, when the ark is finished, the Ten Commandments are put into it. Notice that the Ten Commandments are called the ‘testimony’ and the ark of the covenant is called the ‘ark of the testimony’. Here are two clear texts:

The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. (Exod. 25:15-16 NIV)

He took the Testimony and placed it in the ark…(Exod.40:20 NIV)

It is significant that the word ‘testimony’ is singular even though there were ‘ten’ commandments written on the tablets. It confirms that the Ten Commandments are considered as one single document, and that document is the covenant, or testimony, between God and Israel. We could read the above verses and substitute either the word ‘covenant’ or the words ‘Ten Commandments’ for the word testimony since they all mean exactly the same thing.

This truth is further confirmed when we discover that the Hebrew word for testimony is sometimes translated ‘witness’. The tabernacle is sometimes called the tabernacle of testimony and sometimes it is called the tabernacle of witness. (See Exod. 38:21, Num.1:50, 53; 10:11; 17:7, 8; 18:2).

It is vital to see the Ten Commandments as the summary terms of the Old Covenant made with Israel. The Ten Words will furnish the witness, or ground of condemnation, when Israel fails to perform the terms of the covenant: the Ten Commandments, written with the finger of God on the tables of the covenant.

4. The Words of the Covenant: The fourth synonym used by the Holy Spirit for the Ten Commandments is the phrase ‘the words of the covenant’. These words demonstrate beyond question that the Ten Commandments are the covenant document that established Israel as a nation, or body politic, at Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments are expressly called the words of the covenant. Notice this fact in the following text:

And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. (Exod. 34:28) 

It is impossible to read these words and then refuse to equate, in this text, the Ten Commandments with the words, or terms, of the covenant made with Israel at Sinai. The Holy Spirit is quite clear and explicit—“he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. (Deut. 4:13) 

Again, as in the previous three cases, the text references the ‘words of the covenant’ back to Mount Sinai when God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel as covenant terms. This fact is inescapable in these texts. They explicitly state that the words of the covenant were the Ten Commandments. The ‘Ten Commandments’, the ‘tables of stone’, the ‘tables of testimony’, the ‘testimony’, and the ‘words of the covenant’ are all the same item in the Scriptures. They are interchangeable terms.

5. The Tables of the Covenant: The fifth phrase that the Bible uses as a synonym for the Ten Commandments is the ‘tables of the covenant’. Moses used this phrase at the second giving of the law in Deuteronomy. It is clear that Moses wanted to impress the word ‘covenant’ on Israel’s mind when he reminds them of God’s giving the Ten Commandments as the terms of the covenant written on the tables of the covenant. It is not possible to read the following instructions of Moses without seeing that the tables of the covenant are the exact same thing as the Ten Commandments:

When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water: And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. (Deut. 9:9-11) 

Moses, on this occasion, refers to when God, at Sinai, gave the tablets of the covenant upon which he had written Ten Commandments. The NIV, in one instance, adds the word ‘stone’ to this phrase and the Ten Commandments the ‘stone tablets of the covenant’. This occurs in Hebrews:

…which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. (Heb. 9:4) 

The ninth chapter of the book of Hebrews contrasts the ministry of Aaron in the earthly tabernacle in the midst of Israel with the ministry of Christ in the true tabernacle in heaven itself. Again, the idea of covenant is the recurring theme in this chapter. Verse 4 tells us that the stone tables of the covenant were kept in the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place behind the veil. We must remember that not only the ark, but also the whole tabernacle was designed in reference to the tables of the covenant. All of the sacrifices and the entire ministry of the priests revolved around the covenant document, the Ten Commandments, in the ark of the covenant. The entire system of Judaism illustrated the truth that there was no approach to God until the terms of the covenant housed in the ark and shielded by the curtain had been met:

The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. (Heb. 9:8, 9 NIV) 

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. (Heb 10:1-3) 

The inability of all of the ministries connected with the Old Covenant to ‘cleanse the conscience’ in these texts is linked to the closed access to ‘the way into the Most Holy Place’. The writer of Hebrews shows that the ‘once for all’ sacrifice of Christ overcame this inability and forever opened the way into the Most Holy Place. The author contrasts the ineffectiveness of the sacrifice of animals with the highly effective, better sacrifice of Christ. He tells us, in verse 15, the specific reason for the need of nothing less than the shed blood of the Son of God himself to establish the New Covenant:

For this reason [to effect what the Old Covenant could not] Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal [not just one year] inheritance−now that he has died [under the curse of the covenant in the ark] as a ransom to set them free [Galatians 4:4-6] from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Heb. 9:15 NIV)

None of the sins against the Old Covenant were truly atoned for until the actual death of Christ on Calvary. There was no real propitiation until the Cross. Every ounce of animal blood shed on the altar was merely an ‘I.O.U.’ At the Cross, our blessed Lord picked up every one of those debits and paid them in full. The atoning work of Christ gave him the right to send the gift of the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the heart of the promise in the Old Testament Scriptures (Acts 2:32-33). However, that promise could not be fulfilled as long as the tabernacle system was still in force; and the tabernacle system had to stand as long as the covenant terms (Ten Commandments) in the ark of the covenant were in force as the foundation of God’s covenantal relationship to Israel. It all stands or falls together.

As in the other examples, we see again that the same ingredients always go together when the Ten Commandments, or one of their synonyms, are used. The ‘Ten Commandments’, the ‘tables of stone’, the ‘tables of the testimony’, the ‘testimony’, the ‘words of the covenant’ and the ‘stone tables of the covenant’; all mean exactly the same thing in the Bible. All six of these terms are interchangeable. We doubt that anyone can look at the preceding verses and question what has been said. As we will see later, some people may have difficulty applying these facts to their theological system. For instance, if a person says, “I believe the Ten Commandments are the rule of life for a Christian today,” that person should realize that he is also saying, “I believe the words or terms of the covenant given to Israel and kept in the ark of the covenant are the Christian’s rule of life for today.” Both statements mean exactly the same thing according to the Bible. 

The first time I listed the preceding terms that are synonymous with the words ‘the Ten Commandments’ on a chalkboard, a man asked, “Why did you not list some of the verses in the Bible that speak of the moral law when referring to the Ten Commandments?” He was quite surprised when I replied, “No such references were listed simply because there are none!” The Bible does not even use the term ‘moral law’ let alone equate such a term with the Ten Commandments. 

I may be jumping ahead a bit, but it might be a good idea to mention the fact that the term ‘moral law’ is a theological term and is not a biblical term in any sense whatsoever. The term may, or may not, be a correct and useful term if it can be proven to be scripturally correct. However, the term would first have to be established with texts of Scripture that clearly define the doctrine implied or stated in the term. Apart from one instance, I have never seen this attempted with the term ‘moral law’. The term is just assumed to be correct. Some laws that we would consider ceremonial in nature, circumcision for example, carried the death penalty for violation. Other laws we would consider “moral,” such as murder and adultery, were also punished by death. Was it a ‘moral’ obligation to circumcise a child or was it only a ‘ceremonial’ duty? Was it a ‘moral’ or a ‘ceremonial’ duty to not murder? Is there any inherent difference between murder and circumcision if God gives both laws and both carry the death penalty for disobedience? How can one of these sins be put on the ‘moral’ list and the other one be put on a ‘ceremonial’ list? Is there evidence that the Israelite ever looked at his duty to God in this fashion? I am sure you can see that the concept of ‘moral law’ creates confusion simply because it is not a biblical concept. 

I will discuss the term ‘moral law’ later. At this point, I am only interested in what the Word of God itself says and not in the non-biblical terms developed by theologians and then used as the essential means necessary to teach a particular system of theology. My question is this: “How does God himself want us to think and speak about the words ‘the Ten Commandments’?” The answer is simple if we follow the Holy Spirit’s example in the Bible and use the terminology that he has inspired. We will always think covenant.

Perhaps it would be good to take some of the cited texts of Scripture that use the five different terms as synonyms when referring to the Ten Commandments and summarize exactly what the Bible itself says about the Ten Commandments. The following statement is composed of condensed Bible texts put together into one definitive statement of the biblical treatment of the tablets of stone:

God entered into a special and unique covenant relationship with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. The terms of that covenant are sometimes called the Ten Commandments; other times they are called the book of the covenant. The Ten Commandments are also sometimes called the first covenant, or Old Covenant, especially when the Old Covenant is contrasted with the New Covenant that replaces it. At other times, the Scripture uses the terms First and Old Covenant to refer to the whole Law of Moses.

The first covenant was made only with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. The actual ‘words of the covenant’ are the Ten Commandments as they were written on tables of stone with the finger of God. This covenant document is also called the tables of testimony, or just the testimony. The book of the covenant, which originally contained the whole of Exodus 20 through 23, was the actual covenant document sprinkled with blood at the covenant-making ceremony in Exodus 24:1-8. There were more laws, including those that regulate all of the Feasts and various Sabbaths, added to the book of the covenant and considered part of the Old Covenant. The terms Ten Commandments, tables of stone, tables of testimony, testimony, words of the covenant, and stone tablets of the covenant are one and the same in the Scriptures. All of these terms mean exactly the same thing and they are all interchangeable with each other. 

If this statement causes either confusion in our thinking or problems with our theology, we are not thinking in biblical terms when we consider the Ten Commandments. If the clear biblical facts set forth in the verses of Scripture previously quoted, and just now summarized in the terminology of Scripture in the above statement, are new to us, then our thinking in reference to the Ten Commandments has not been biblical! I repeat; we must learn to use biblical terminology. We should start our study of any Bible doctrine with a clear understanding of the actual verses of Scripture that discuss that specific subject. I have yet to see a discussion of the Ten Commandments that lists and discusses the biblical references to the Ten Commandments as I have just done.

Most people are amazed that the New Testament Scriptures never once use the words Ten Commandments. It is possible that these people, when they study the subject of the Ten Commandments, have not looked up the actual verses in the Bible where God himself speaks about the Ten Commandments. Perhaps if they had done this, and seriously considered what they had read, some of their conclusions, and surely their terminology, would be radically different.

Summary

The Bible always connects the Ten Commandments with Israel at Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments were the ‘words of the covenant’ that were written on the tables of stone and put in the ark of the covenant. The terms the ‘Ten Commandments’, the ‘tables of stone’, the ‘tables of testimony’, the ‘tables of the covenant’, and the ‘words of the covenant’ all refer to the same thing in the Scriptures. They are interchangeable terms.

We are never told or encouraged to think of ‘unchanging moral law’ when we read the words ‘Ten Commandments’ or any of its synonymous terms. We are to think ‘covenant document’. We are to think of a specific code of law (the Ten Commandments) that was made the covenant terms of a specific covenant document. We are always to remember that the Ten Commandments were the specific terms, written on stone tablets, of the covenant that established Israel’s special relationship with God. The Ten Commandments, Israel, Sinai, and covenant all go together.

The individual duties ordered in the various commandments are a different story. The Ten Commandments, considered as a covenant document, have been replaced by the New Covenant. The individual commandments stand, fall, or are changed according to Christ’s treatment of them. Nine of them are clearly repeated, with some changes, under the laws given to the New Covenant people of God in the New Testament Scriptures and therefore are just as binding today as when given at Sinai.

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